A recent article by The Hollywood Reporter has drawn attention for its discussion of how network daytime and late-night talk shows may handle political guests as the Federal Communications Commission signals plans to enforce the federal equal time rule during election season, as reported by Breitbart.

In a post on X linking to its own story, The Hollywood Reporter wrote, “Say goodbye to most appearances by political candidates on daytime and late-night talk shows.”

The article referenced programs such as The View, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, and Stephen Colbert.

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The focus of the story is the FCC’s equal time provision, which requires broadcast outlets to provide comparable airtime to all legally qualified candidates for the same office during election periods.

The rule applies when a candidate is given airtime outside of exempt news programming.

Under the rule, if a U.S. Senate candidate such as James Talarico appears on a talk show within 60 days of a primary election, other legitimate candidates in the same race must be offered equal time.

In the Texas Democratic primary, those candidates include Rep. Jasmine Crockett and businessman Ahmad Hassan. Similarly, during a general election period, a Republican opponent would also be entitled to comparable airtime.

Crockett is essentially calling Talarico and Colbert liars now.

Says the federal government had nothing to do with shutting the interview down, and that Colbert could’ve had her on to resolve the issue, but didn’t want to.Jasmine looks like she's slowly coming to the… https://t.co/qFcWr8Wlpj pic.twitter.com/PKNLklCqJV— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) February 18, 2026

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The Hollywood Reporter article characterized the renewed enforcement of the rule as a significant change for entertainment-based political appearances.

The outlet wrote that the change “doesn’t necessarily prohibit interviews with political candidates but imposes obligations requiring them to give comparable time to opponents. In practice, it will prevent networks from having anyone on by potentially forcing them to have everyone on.”

The equal time provision has been part of federal law for decades. Congress adopted the requirement to ensure that broadcasters using publicly owned airwaves do not favor one candidate over another.

FCC Chair Brandan Carr addressed the issue in a statement.

“Congress passed the equal time provision for a very specific reason. They did not want the media leads in Hollywood and in New York to put their thumbs on the scale and pick their winners and losers in primaries and general elections. That’s the point,” Carr said.

The discussion has renewed debate over how late-night and daytime programs manage political content, particularly during campaign season.

While news programs are generally exempt from the equal time requirement, entertainment talk shows are subject to the rule if they invite candidates to appear.

As election season approaches, networks may need to weigh whether to host political candidates and provide equivalent airtime to all qualified opponents or avoid candidate appearances altogether to sidestep compliance requirements.

The issue highlights the intersection of federal communications law, broadcast licensing, and the role of talk shows in political discourse during primary and general election cycles.

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