ABC Petitions FCC Over The View Equal Time Probe

ABC, through its Houston station KTRK-TV, filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday accusing the agency of overreaching its authority and creating a chilling effect on free speech through its probe of the daytime talk show "The View."

The filing responds to the FCC's inquiry into a February episode featuring Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, who later won his party's primary. FCC Chair Brendan Carr confirmed in February that the agency had opened an enforcement action to determine if the appearance violated equal time rules, which require broadcast stations to provide comparable airtime to rival candidates upon request. KTRK did not file equal time paperwork, relying on a 2002 FCC ruling that classified "The View" as a bona fide news interview program exempt from the requirement. The FCC's media bureau ordered the station in March to submit a formal petition reaffirming the exemption, a step ABC called unprecedented.

In the 52-page document, signed by former Solicitor General Paul D. Clement, ABC argued the probe threatens decades of settled practice and broadcasters' editorial discretion. "Some may dislike certain or even most of...