ABC Accuses FCC of Violating Their Free Speech Rights in 52-Page Filing

ABC has accused the FCC of violating their free speech rights in a new filing with the agency.

What's Happening:

• ABC has accused the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of violating its free speech rights in a new 52-page filing with the agency.
• The filing stems, according to The New York Times, from a single ABC-owned station in Houston, involving a regulatory dispute in regards to the ABC series, The View.
• However, the paperwork is proving to be quite important, with one of the most experienced Supreme Court litigators in the country, Paul D. Clement, signing it. Clement was a solicitor general under President George W. Bush.
• The filing serves as a response to action the FCC took earlier this year, questioning whether or not The View fell under old federal rules that require entertainment programs on broadcast television to grant equal airtime to political candidates for the same office.
• The View, which is actually part of ABC News, features celebrity interviews as well as conversations with political personalities. The show is led by a panel of hosts who are often critical of the current administration.
• As such, FCC Chair Brendan Carr has strongly suggested that The View should not qualify for exemptions of the equal time rules. This exemption has been extended to many talk shows over the years, with Carr reportedly suggesting that too many talk shows improperly assume that they qualify.
• The filing from ABC reveals the intensity of the efforts that the FCC has taken against the network. According to the filing, KTRK-TV in Houston was ordered by the FCC to file a former request asking whether or not The View was exempt. The agency then suggested that if the show is not exempt, then KTRK should have registered formal paperwork required under the equal time rules when The View booked Texas Senate Democratic candidate James Talarico back in February.
• ABC's filing says the request was an overreach, as The View received its own news exemption from the FCC back in 2002, calling it "unprecedented, beyond the Commission's authority and counterproductive to the Commission's stated goal of encouraging free speech and open political discussion."
• The filing also states, "Some may dislike certain - or even most - of the viewpoints expressed on The View or similar shows. Such dislike, however, cannot justify using regulatory processes to restrict those views."
• The filing continues, “The danger is that the government will simply decide which perspectives to regulate and which to leave undisturbed. In fact, while the Commission now questions The View’s decades-long exemption, it has not expressed any inclination to apply a similar interpretation of the equal opportunities rule to other broadcasters, including the many voices—conservative and liberal—on broadcast radio... such a clear disparity in the treatment of broadcasters that ought to be subject to the same treatment under law raises serious concerns about viewpoint discrimination and retaliatory targeting.”

ABC and the FCC:

• ABC has seemingly been an ire for the FCC since Carr assumed the chairmanship in 2025. Early into his term, he initiated an inquiry into D.E.I. practices at ABC stations, which is currently still in progress.
• Last September, a joke made on Jimmy Kimmel Live after the assassination of Charlie Kirk prompted outrage and calls for his show to be cancelled. ABC responded by suspending his show, which only lasted for a few days after a wave of protests regarding the free speech implications of taking him off the air erupted.
• As the FCC began looking into The View, they also recently took what is considered to be an unusual step, and started reviewing all eight of the ABC-owned local station licenses around the country - years before they expire. This review is coincidentally timed around another headline making joke from Jimmy Kimmel Live that both First Lady Melania Trump and President Trump reacted to on social media.
• Regarding the equal time rule, the filing also adds a declaration from The View executive producer Brian Teta, who notes that a number of Republicans have been invited to the show, but declined, naming JD Vance, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Lindsey Graham, Josh Hawley, Elon Musk, Kevin McCarthy, and Marco Rubio.