FCC Puts Liberal Late-Night Shows on Notice Over Unequal Airtime

We all know many late-night shows, especially “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” are little more than campaign ads for Democrats. The FCC has issued a warning to late-night talk shows: give GOP candidates equal time, or risk violating FCC rules.

And the bias is there. According to a study published by Newsbusters, 99 percent of late-night guests were liberal for the last six months of 2025. It was the same for the first six months of 2025 and the last six months of 2024, too. The study looked at “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” and “The Daily Show.”

When it came to partisan officials, the shows had 31 Democrats and zero Republicans, and Colbert led the pack with 17 Democratic politicians.

Now the FCC is warning the shows to give equal time to Republicans, or risk violating FCC rules.

FCC cracking down on liberal talk-shows not giving equal airtime to GOP guests https://t.co/1VylN02Lt9 pic.twitter.com/OioO5yxA6n

— New York Post (@nypost) January 22, 2026

Here’s more:

The FCC said it’s vital that broadcasters and legally qualified candidates understand equal opportunities rules that may require comparable airtime and placement for opposing candidates going forward.

In a follow-up statement, FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez ensured that “Nothing has fundamentally changed with respect to our political broadcasting rules.”

“The FCC has not adopted any new regulation, interpretation, or Commission-level policy altering the long-standing news exemption or equal time framework,” Gomez shared Wednesday.

“For decades, the Commission has recognized that bona fide news interviews, late-night programs, and daytime news shows are entitled to editorial discretion based on newsworthiness, not political favoritism.”

While the principle has not been repealed, revised, or formally considered by the commission, the announcement does not change the law, though it reflects a shift in enforcement posture.

“The First Amendment does not yield to government intimidation,” Gomez said. “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,” she added.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr also reminded the networks of their obligations:

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 pic.twitter.com/sWiQmqQHCq

— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) January 21, 2026

Here’s some of what that Public Notice said:

Decades ago, Congress made the decision to prevent covered broadcast television programs from being used to advance certain partisan political purposes. Specifically, through section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended,² Congress put protections in place to ensure equal access to broadcast station facilities for legally qualified candidates for office, regardless of political affiliation.

A person is a legally qualified candidate for purposes of the FCC’s equal opportunities or equal time rule if they meet certain requirements, including having publicly announced their intention to run for office and qualifying under applicable state or federal law to hold the office being sought.³

Under section 315, if a broadcast station permits any legally qualified candidate for public office to use its facilities, it shall provide an equal opportunity to all other legally qualified candidates for that office.⁴ This statutory requirement and the corresponding FCC rules⁵ seek to ensure that no legally qualified candidate for office is unfairly given less access to the public airwaves than their opponent.

…

Importantly, the FCC has not been presented with any evidence that the interview portion of any late night or daytime television talk show program on air presently would qualify for the bona fide news exemption.²⁰ Moreover, a program that is motivated by partisan purposes, for example, would not be entitled to an exemption under longstanding FCC precedent. Any program or station that wishes to obtain formal assurance that the equal opportunities requirement does not apply (in whole or in part) is encouraged to promptly file a petition for declaratory ruling that satisfies the statutory requirements for a bona fide news exemption.

In the meantime, 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.²¹ It is important that both broadcasters and legally qualified candidates understand the FCC’s equal opportunities regulations and how they can result in broadcasters offering opposing legally qualified candidates comparable time and placement.

Of course, this notice will be met with criticism from the Democratic Party and the late-night hosts themselves. Fox News reported that Jimmy Kimmel told his audience, “I might need your help” after the announcement.

“The president took time, from 6,000 miles away, to continue his war on talk shows. He shared this story about how his minions at the FCC are planning to make it difficult for shows like ours and ‘The View’ to interview politicians they don’t align with,” Kimmel said. “For real.” That’s not the rule at all, of course. There is nothing stopping the shows from interviewing Democrats, provided they provide equal time to Republicans.

“The View” host Joy Behar said Republicans don’t come on her show because they’re “afraid” of the panel, a comment that was met with a flurry of evidence that “The View” rejected offers from or didn’t extend invitations to Republicans to appear on the program.

The FCC rules are clear: equal time must be given to political candidates on programs that don’t qualify for the bona fide exemption, and late night shows do not.

Editor’s Note: The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie about President Trump, his administration, and conservatives.

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