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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced plans to enforce rules that talk show and late-night TV programs must give equal time to opposing political candidates, a move highlighted by President Donald Trump on his Truth Social Platform.
The new guidance goes some way to addressing entrenched complaints from conservatives that late-night shows have skewed too far left and address a genre that Trump has long argued is politically biased.
Trump has previously argued that the FCC should move to revoke the licenses for networks which publicly criticize him. Speaking to reporters in September, Trump said, "I think maybe their license should be taken away," and said it will be "up to" FCC commissioner, Brendan Carr, who was appointed by the president in November of 2024.
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The announcement will see a the implementation of a decades-old federal law requiring FCC-licensed broadcasters which allow the appearance of political candidates to offer "equal opportunities" to other candidates.
Newsweek has contacted the White House, ABC, NBC and CBS outside of regular working hours via email for comment.
Why It Matters
Late-night TV has long drawn the ire of the president, with Trump regularly criticizing the likes of NBC’s Seth Meyers, CBS’ Stephen Colbert and ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel, and late-night hosts in turn regularly criticizing the president and his administration.
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Kimmel’s show was suspended in the first year of Trump’s second term, following remarks he made in the wake of the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Trump praised the show’s suspension, and later voiced criticism when Kimmel’s show was reinstated. This became one of the most high-profile clashes to date between the Trump administration and a late-night TV host.
This criticism and talk of license revocation has brought late-night TV to the front and center of a political firestorm over freedom of speech, expression and cancel culture in the United States.
There are disparate views on this discourse over the political aisle, as while some have criticized suspensions and cancellations of late-night shows and dubbed this a violation of the First Amendment, Trump and his supporters have welcomed this, and others have argued there is a general decline in the cultural relevance of these shows.
What To Know
On Wednesday, the FCC said in a four-page notice that daytime talk shows and late night programs must give equal air time to opposing political candidates.
That guidance read in part that the bureau will "herein provides guidance on the application of the statutory equal opportunities requirement and the bona fide news exemptions to broadcast television stations, including their airing of late night and daytime talk shows."
Carr, an ally of Trump's, wrote in a post on X following the guidance, "For years, legacy TV networks assumed that their late night & daytime talk shows qualify as "bona fide news" programs—even when motivated by purely partisan political purposes."
"Today, the FCC reminded them of their obligation to provide all candidates with equal opportunities," Carr added. The federal law this ruling hinges on states that "bona fide newscasts" were exempt from the equal opportunities rule. Back in 2006, the FCC said that the exemption applied to an interview on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, which at the time meant that Leno could feature Arnold Schwarzenegger, who at the time was a California gubernatorial candidate, without inviting his Democratic opponent.
This recent guidance from the FCC states that it is "not the case" that every late-night and daytime show is exempt, and that exemptions apply on a case-by-case basis.
Trump shared a post on Truth Social about the new guidance, which read "FCC takes aim at ‘The View,’ ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ in fight over ‘equal time’ rules for politicians." Carr later reshared this to X.
The move has prompted criticism, with Anna Gomez, who is now the FCC’s sole Democratic commissioner, saying in a statement that the new guidance was "an escalation in this F.C.C.’s ongoing campaign to censor and control speech."
Newsweek spoke to James Grimmelmann, Tessler Family Professor of Digital and Information Law at the Cornell Law School, about the plans. "The equal time rule is probably unconstitutional," he told Newsweek over email.
"It's an artifact of a very different era in telecommunications regulation, one in which the limited availability of television and radio broadcast spectrum meant that government regulators inevitably had to make hard choices about whose voices could be heard on air. That era has gone," he added.
What People Are Saying
Anna Gomez, Democratic FCC commissioner, in a press release: "The First Amendment does not yield to government intimidation. Broadcasters should not feel pressured to water down, sanitize, or avoid critical coverage out of fear of regulatory retaliation. Broadcast stations have a constitutional right to carry newsworthy content, even when that content is critical of those in power. That does not change today, it will not change tomorrow, and it will not change simply because of this Administration’s desire to silence its critics."
The FCC’s guidance reads in part: "The Media Bureau encourages all television broadcast stations to ensure that they are making all appropriate equal opportunity filings in accordance with section 73.1943 of the FCC’s rules and as required by agency precedent."
Daniel Suhr, president of the center for American Rights, in a quote shared with Newsweek via email: "This important announcement puts Hollywood hosts and network executives on notice that they can no longer shower free airtime on Democratic candidates while shutting out Republicans."
James Grimmelmann, Tessler Family Professor of Digital and Information Law at the Cornell Law School, told Newsweek via email: "Modern Internet-based media are not scarce in the same way, and so the justification for the equal time rule has collapsed. If any of the networks seriously challenged the FCC's policy, they would win in court. So I think we should understand this bluster as an attempt by the Trump administration to pressure the broadcast networks to provide more favorable coverage."
What Happens Next?
It’s clear that the guidance could have a major impact on how daytime and late night TV in America looks. However, exactly how the changes will look, and whether there will be opposition from hosts or broadcasters remains to be seen.
Update 01/26/26, 05:37 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to include comment from Suhr.
Update 01/22/26, 09:55 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to include comment from Grimmelmann.
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