Disney Asks The FCC To Exempt The View From Rules That News Organizations Must Follow
By Luke Bouma on May 24, 2026
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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has opened a public comment period on a petition filed by Disney-owned ABC stations requesting that the daytime talk show The View be officially recognized as a “bona fide news interview program,” exempting it from federal equal opportunity requirements for political candidates.
In a petition dated May 7, 2026, KTRK-TV, an ABC-owned station in Houston, Texas, along with parent company American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. (ABC), asked the FCC to declare that The View qualifies for the statutory exemption under Section 315 of the Communications Act. The show, co-hosted by figures including Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Ana Navarro, has long operated under a 2002 FCC determination granting it this status.
Disney has filed a petition with the FCC asking the agency to declare that The View is exempt from the statutory equal opportunities requirements that would otherwise apply to broadcast shows.
The equal opportunities rule requires broadcast stations to provide comparable airtime to legally qualified candidates for public office if one candidate appears on their facilities. Exemptions exist for certain categories, including bona fide newscasts, news interviews, news documentaries, and on-the-spot coverage of news events. Proponents of the exemption argue it allows journalistic discretion in selecting guests based on newsworthiness rather than strict parity.
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The Gooferment Federal Communications Commission should NOT be in the business of regulating speech. Just as Carr’s comments about CBS had a chilling effect on Steven Colbert’s future, it should steer clear of politics.
You might be to ignore the FCC in the technical regulation of the broadcast spectrum, BUT, (and there is always a BIG butt), I assert that the “invisible hand of the free market” would do it better, faster, and cheaper.
When it comes anywhere close to the First Amendment, then it should be shut down.
Let “We, The Sheeple” decide the economic fate of The View, news coverage, or anything else.
The “public ownership of the air ways” is slender excuse for socialism!
Argh!
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