Walt Disney Co.\u2019s ABC network has stepped up its defense of \u201cThe View\u201d amid its battle with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, who has targeted the network\u2019s programming and its hiring policies.<\/p>\n
At issue is whether \u201cThe View\u201d still qualifies for an exception to FCC rules that require broadcasters to provide equal air time for opponents of various political candidates. <\/p>\n
Carr has called the daytime talk show \u201covertly political.\u201d <\/p>\n
Late Monday, ABC filed documents with the FCC to support its request for a declaratory ruling that \u201cThe View\u201d is indeed a bona fide news interview program entitled to the equal-time rule exemption that covers newscasts, political debates and documentaries. <\/p>\n
The show was granted the exception in 2002.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, the program in the Commission\u2019s sights is The View,\u201d ABC said in this week\u2019s filing. \u201cThe principle in the balance is far larger: whether a federal regulator may override a broadcaster\u2019s editorial judgment about whom to interview \u2014 a judgment the Constitution commits to broadcasters and their audiences, not to the state.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the FCC opened its inquiry in late May, the agency has received more than 77,000 public comments<\/a> \u2014 most in support of the long-running daytime talk show. <\/p>\n \u201cWhile ABC insists that \u2018The View\u2019 is a \u2018bona fide news program\u2019 under the law, ABC should focus on complying with its public interest obligations, rather than misleading the public about them,\u201d an FCC spokesperson said in a statement sent to The Times.<\/p>\n Separately, the FCC also took the unusual step of calling in the licenses of eight Disney-owned television stations for early review<\/a>. The move \u2014 widely interpreted as an effort to chill the Disney network\u2019s speech \u2014 came a day after President Trump demanded that ABC fire its late-night<\/a> host Jimmy Kimmel over a joke<\/a> about First Lady Melania Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n Losing the licenses for its stations, including KABC-TV Channel 7 in Los Angeles, would be a significant blow to the Disney-owned network. <\/p>\n Some conservatives, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) have suggested the FCC actions are an overreach while others have encouraged the agency to come down hard on Disney.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Commission can take this opportunity to address multiple pending complaints against ABC related to its programming,\u201d conservative lawyer Daniel Suhr, head of the Center for American Rights, wrote in his 65-page petition in support of revoking Disney\u2019s licenses. <\/p>\n \u201cThe View,\u201d which features Trump critics Whoopi Goldberg, Sunny Hostin, Joy Behar and Ana Navarro, helps make a case that Disney is running a partisan network, Suhr alleged in his documents. <\/p>\n \u201cDemocrats are featured on The View at an insanely high ratio compared to Republicans,\u201d Suhr wrote, noting that at least a third of the show\u2019s 348 guests in 2025 were liberals \u2014 including Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.). Meanwhile, two prominent conservatives, former Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and actor Cheryl Hines, the wife of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., were featured last year. <\/p>\n Since Carr opened the review, the ABC show has avoided conversations with political candidates in competitive races leading up to this year\u2019s pivotal midterm elections. <\/p>\n The show has continued its tradition of hosting politicians, though, including a highly rated interview last month with a Carr ally \u2014 Vice President JD Vance.<\/p>\n ABC has asked the FCC for a declaratory ruling on the status of \u201cThe View.\u201d The network maintains that \u201cThe View\u201d books politicians based on newsworthiness and not partisanship.<\/p>\n