FCC OPENS PUBLIC COMMENT ON ABC PETITION TO CLASSIFY THE VIEW AS BONA FIDE NEWS INTERVIEW PROGRAM.(PHOTO).

 FCC opens public comment on ABC petition to classify The View as bona fide news interview program

The Federal Communications Commission has opened a public comment period on a petition from Disney-owned ABC seeking to classify The View as a “bona fide news interview program,” a designation that could exempt it from federal equal-time requirements for political candidates.

Disney, acting on behalf of ABC and its Houston station KTRK-TV, filed the request earlier this month in an effort to secure an exemption under the FCC’s rules governing political broadcasting. The equal-time provision, rooted in the Communications Act of 1934, requires broadcasters to provide comparable airtime to competing political candidates when one is featured, a safeguard intended to prevent partisan advantage on public airwaves.

Exemptions are typically granted to qualifying news programs, which ABC argues include The View, comparing it to established political talk shows such as Meet the Press and Face the Nation. The company says the program has long operated under a news exemption granted more than two decades ago and that this status remains valid.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced the public comment period and raised questions about whether the program meets the legal definition of bona fide news programming, noting that FCC precedent excludes shows where editorial decisions are driven by partisan intent.

The petition follows long-running tensions between President Donald Trump and hosts of The View, and ABC argues that reclassifying the program could disrupt established regulatory practice and potentially chill protected speech across broadcast media.