Exclusive / ‘The View’ throttles back political candidate bookings following FCC inquiry

One network source noted to Semafor that the FCC’s actual impact on The View’s bookings has been limited. The show’s standard for political candidates is high, and while politics is a part of the discussions, the show largely focuses on booking celebrities. Booking multiple unelected local political figures would be highly unusual for the program.

Trump’s FCC, led by its aggressive chairman, has been one of the most visible regulators of American communications in a generation.

The simple threat of regulatory action is now enough to impact how media outlets behave. Take San Francisco AM radio station KCBS, which last year reported on the location of immigration and customs enforcement agents in its community, prompting outrage from conservative media and scrutiny from Carr and federal regulators, who accused the station of not operating in the public interest. The station demoted one anchor and began discouraging its reporters from pursuing political stories that could draw attention to the station in favor of human interest stories, The Associated Press reported at the time. Carr’s equal time threats have also influenced which candidates appear on late night talk shows on CBS, NBC, and ABC.

Still, more than halfway into his second year on the job, the limits of Carr’s position have also become apparent.

His threat that ABC could “do this the easy way or the hard way” after Jimmy Kimmel’s comments on Charlie Kirk’s assassination ended up empowering the late night comedian. There was criticism from some Republicans, who said the commissioner had gone too far and was stifling free speech. After briefly keeping Kimmel off the air, the network reversed course, and opted instead to fight the FCC on its equal time inquiry into The View.

As audiences increasingly opt to stream news, entertainment and television, Carr has attempted to expand FCC oversight from traditional public broadcast airwaves into streaming. He’s suggested the agency can regulate YouTube TV and other “MVPDs,” which are functionally similar to cable television, but technologically distinct because they carry content digitally. Legal experts are skeptical that his efforts will succeed.

The FCC’s aggressive pressure on news networks has infuriated the dissenting member of the commission. In a statement to Semafor, Democratic commissioner Anna Gomez said the agency’s “censorship and control campaign” was “not meant to just change rules and overturn precedent, but to alter behavior.”

“I’ve been on the road hearing directly from broadcasters asking me what is OK to say on air and telling me they’re instructing their reporters to be careful to avoid being dragged before the FCC,” Gomez told Semafor. “We cannot allow fear to dictate editorial decisions, particularly when doing so will only invite this administration to keep coming back for more. Disney and others must understand that capitulation does not buy you protection. The only choice is to stand up for the First Amendment and push back against these threats.”

Regardless of the fate of the FCC’s ruling, it seems unlikely that members of the rising democratic socialist left will appear on ABC anytime soon. In the last several days, some of Mamdani’s allies have been frustrated with the show’s political coverage, particularly after recent remarks by right-leaning host Sara Haines on Avila Chevalier.

“I’m gonna full-blown call her an antisemite. She would proudly call herself that, trust me,” Haines said of Avila Chevalier.

Following the comments, one of Mamdani’s aides privately expressed fury to ABC executives, suggesting her words could impact whether the New York City mayor and other democratic socialist candidates for Congress would appear on the program in the future, according to one person familiar with the conversation.