Disney’s Bold Move: ABC’s ‘The View’ as News?

Federal regulators are now asking Americans to decide whether a partisan daytime talk show should be treated like straight news, in a fight that could reshape how television helps pick our leaders.

Story Snapshot

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is taking public comment on Disney’s request to label ABC’s “The View” a “bona fide news interview program.”
That label would exempt the show from federal “equal opportunities” rules that are supposed to stop broadcasters from tilting elections.
The FCC says it has seen no evidence that current daytime or late-night talk shows qualify for the news exemption and is questioning partisan motives.
The battle ties into a broader license review of Disney’s ABC stations, raising fears on left and right about politicized media gatekeeping.

What Disney Is Asking the FCC to Do

Disney has formally asked the Federal Communications Commission to rule that “The View” counts as a “bona fide news interview program,” a legal category created by Congress that shields genuine news shows from the federal equal opportunities rule. That rule says when a station gives time to one candidate for office, it generally has to offer comparable time to opponents on the same station. Disney argues that “The View” should be treated like “Meet the Press” or “Face the Nation” and therefore be exempt.

According to reporting on Disney’s filing, the company claims the show regularly interviews political figures and discusses public affairs in ways that resemble established Sunday news programs. If the Federal Communications Commission agrees, ABC stations could host a favored candidate on “The View” without automatically triggering equal access rights for their rivals. That would give a heavily opinion-driven talk show some of the same legal protections long reserved for more traditional news interview formats.

Why the FCC Is Pushing Back on Talk Shows

The Federal Communications Commission’s Media Bureau issued a Public Notice asking for public comment on Disney’s petition and laying out pointed questions about “The View.” Regulators asked whether the show’s format and guest choices are driven by “newsworthiness” or by an effort to support or oppose particular candidates, which would disqualify it under longstanding precedent. The notice emphasized that programs motivated by partisan purposes are not entitled to the bona fide news exemption, no matter how they brand themselves.

The same notice also cast doubt on the entire category of daytime and late-night talk shows. The commission stated that it “has not been presented with any evidence” that the interview portions of current late-night or daytime talk programs qualify for the exemption. Officials pointed back to a 2006 decision involving Jay Leno’s program, which had been treated as news-interview content, and signaled they now see the landscape as different. As a result, stations that feature political candidates on such shows may have to provide equal access when opponents ask for it.

The Equal Opportunities Rule and Fears of Media Gatekeepers

The fight over “The View” is rooted in Section 315 of the Communications Act, the equal opportunities rule Congress first wrote into radio law in 1927 and later updated for television. Lawmakers said they were trying to keep powerful broadcasters from becoming “gatekeepers” who decide election outcomes by giving airtime to some candidates and freezing out others. The rule does not bar anyone from inviting a candidate on a show; it simply says that, outside of specific exemptions, opponents must be given comparable chances to reach voters.

To keep the law from strangling real journalism, Congress added exemptions in 1959 for bona fide newscasts, news documentaries, on-the-spot coverage, and news interview programs. It also added the term “bona fide” to insist that content be genuinely news-driven, not a partisan vehicle dressed up as news. Legal analysts note that the Federal Communications Commission’s current push on talk shows is less a brand-new crusade than a reassertion of those long-standing standards in an era when entertainment and politics are tightly mixed.

How Disney’s License Troubles Raise the Stakes

The scrutiny of “The View” is unfolding while Disney faces a broader Federal Communications Commission review of its ABC broadcast licenses, an unusual early-renewal process that already has the company cooperating with document requests. Reporting on public remarks from the commission’s leadership describes letters of inquiry sent in 2023 and 2024 and Disney producing hundreds of pages of internal material to regulators.^[3] Those records may include programming and booking information that touches directly on how “The View” handles political guests.^[3]

Oh hell no. The view is lies, gossip, retaliation, censorship, and evil. The View is not news, even if you tried to stretch the definition beyond reason.

— Maureen Mulligan (@MaureenMul32902) May 25, 2026

Because broadcast licenses are essential to every over-the-air station’s survival, many viewers on both the left and the right see this as a high-pressure environment where government and big media are bargaining over who controls the political megaphone. Critics warn that tying equal-time enforcement to license renewal can chill speech, as stations may avoid controversial candidates or topics rather than risk a fight with regulators.^[3] Supporters counter that without such leverage, rules meant to stop media gatekeeping become toothless.

What This Fight Reveals About Trust, Bias, and Power

For many Americans, the argument over whether “The View” is “news” misses the deeper point: both corporate media and federal regulators are seen as serving their own interests, not the public’s. Conservatives argue the show has long served as a megaphone for anti-Trump and progressive voices, while liberals fear a Trump-era Federal Communications Commission could selectively punish critical outlets.^[2] Both sides suspect the system lets elites bend rules when it helps their preferred candidates or business partners.

The legal question before the commission is narrow—does “The View” meet the statute’s definition of a bona fide news interview program?—but the public reaction is broad and angry. In a country already polarized over media bias, censorship, and election integrity, the idea that a daytime chat show might be granted the same legal standing as hard-news interviews looks absurd to many viewers. Yet if the Federal Communications Commission swings too hard in the other direction, it risks weaponizing licensing power and deepening the sense that Washington bureaucrats, not citizens, decide which voices are heard. The agency’s public comment process gives ordinary people a rare on-the-record chance to push back on both government and corporate power at once.