New chilling effect on television, radio

FCC chief’ call for equal time for politicians could stifle broadcasters’ speech.

- STEPHEN BATTAGLIO

Back in 1963, Richard Nixon needed to rehabilitate his image after he lost his race for California governor.

He went on the “Tonight” show with Jack Paar and played the piano.

Bill Clinton’s appearance on “The Arsenio Hall Show,” where he delivered a rendition of “Heartbreak Hotel” on the saxophone, was considered a breakthrough moment in his successful 1992 campaign for the White House.

Those memorable segments demonstrated how the desk-and-sofa format could be a tool in the politician’s arsenal for shaping public opinion away from the pesky probing of journalists. It became a way to reach viewers who did not regularly watch TV news.

But those days may become a relic of broadcast history as Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr is calling for stronger enforcement of a broadcast regulation rule requiring TV and radio broadcasters to offer equal time to all legally qualified opposing political candidates.

With the new guidance — which legal and media experts said would be hard to enforce and could stifle free speech — the FCC questioned whether late-night and daytime talk shows deserve an exemption from the equal-time rules for broadcast stations using the public airwaves.

It's the Trump White House's latest salvo against the network late-night talk show hosts, primarily Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel, who pound away at President Trump nightly in their monologues and offer ample airtime to his political opponents.

The rule also would affect daytime shows such as ABC's “The View,” which is under the purview of the Disney-owned _ network’s news division.The equal-time rule has been around for decades but rarely has been enforced in recent years. It did come into play during the 2024 presidential campaign when NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” booked Democratic candidate Kamala Harris to appear ina sketch.