ABC Petitions FCC to Drop Probe of 'The View' Over Equal Time Rule

ABC pushed back against the Federal Communications Commission in a petition filed Thursday over the agency's probe into "The View."

"'The View' has been broadcasting under a bona fide news exemption granted to it more than twenty years ago... The Commission has taken no action over the last two decades to modify or overturn the Declaratory Ruling and there is no basis for doing so now," ABC said in the filing.

The Disney-owned network argued that the FCC's January public notice enforcing a rule on equal time for candidates "has a chilling effect on First Amendment-protected free speech on the eve of the 2026 elections."

"The Commission’s actions threaten to upend decades of settled law and practice and chill critical protected speech, both with respect to ‘The View’ and more broadly," ABC said.

The network first sought to classify "The View" as bona fide news in 2002, and the idea went undisputed until 2026.

ABC rejected claims that it aided Texas Democratic candidate James Talarico, whose February appearance on the show prompted the probe. "The decision to include Talarico was driven by considerations of newsworthiness and audience interest and not an intent to advance his candidacy," the network said in the filing.

A government source called Disney's statement "absurd on its face." "Ron Burgundy has a stronger claim of being 'bona fide news' than Whoopi Goldberg," the source told Fox News Digital, referencing the Will Ferrell character from "Anchorman."

The FCC declined to comment.

In January, the FCC said it would enforce the "statutory equal opportunities requirement" under the Communications Act of 1934, including on late-night and daytime talk shows.

Talarico, who won the Democratic primary in the Texas Senate race, was among the first political candidates to appear on "The View" after the FCC's announcement.

A longstanding "bona fide" exception applies to news programming and exempts it from equal time rules. But the FCC now states it "has not been presented with any evidence that the interview portion of any late-night or daytime television talk show program on the air presently would qualify for the 'bona fide' news exemption."

Disney never filed an equal-time request with the FCC over Talarico's appearance, which would have signaled that the company views "The View" as bona fide news exempt from the policy.