Equal Time 2.0

The FCC, directed by the Trump Administration, has issued a new ruling that could significantly affect major daytime and late-night talk shows, including “The View,” “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” and “Late Night with Steven Colbert.” The core argument here is whether this ruling is a targeted response to criticism from talk show hosts.

The president, frustrated by monologue jokes, previously failed to have “Jimmy Kimmel Live” cancelled, though CBS will end "Late Night with Steven Colbert" in May 2026. Despite this, ratings and YouTube viewership for both hosts have actually increased since the controversy.

The main question is whether this new FCC ruling will affect the hosts' monologues, which have been a primary source of irritation for Trump. Reports suggest that the ruling applies only to shows featuring political candidates, requiring them to provide equal airtime to rival candidates. This applies the “Equal Time Rule” selectively, not the “Fairness Doctrine.” Therefore, the main impact would not be on the substance of the monologues or even on political office holders who are not, at the time, candidates, and the expression of host viewpoints would remain largely unaffected.

The Fairness Doctrine, repealed in 1987, allowed TV hosts to present opinions without needing to show opposing views. This does not change what the mentioned hosts can express.

It was the repeal of “The Fairness Doctrine” that allowed for hundreds of AM radio stations to air right-wing programming for decades beginning in the late 1980s and continuing today. Non-broadcast opinionated news channels, cable channels and other internet news sources are also exempt.

The central issue is whether it is fair to allow right-wing TV talk shows that reach millions every day to go unchecked while imposing tighter restrictions on daytime and late-night talk shows simply because they criticize the president. This selective application raises concern about fairness and about targeting specific shows for political reasons.

Ultimately, if these rules are to be applied to daytime and late-night talk shows, they should be applied across all platforms, including radio talk shows and broadcast news channels with specific viewpoints. The main argument should be for a consistent standard, not selective enforcement.

As far as the “Equal Time Rule” is concerned, it’s a sure bet that any of these talk shows offering an interview to right-wing candidates would be rejected by most, if not all, of them, as they would be venturing into an informal atmosphere (not a formal news interview), and certainly “unfriendly” territory, therefore would be subjected to questioning that would be most detrimental to their candidacy. The result would not be a display of opposing views, but instead we would hear statements like, “...equal time was offered to his or her opponent, but we never heard back from them or their representatives.”

Entertainment shows must be exempt from "Equal Time" rules.

Click on image to watch this short Steven Colbert comment on "Late Night" from CBS.