ABC launches campaign urging viewers to support 'The View' in FCC battle

ABC on Monday launched an on-air campaign urging viewers to support “The View” and eight Disney-owned companies in its battle with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Earlier this year, the FCC launched an investigation into ABC's “The View” amid the agency's equal-time crackdown on political candidates after Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico appeared on the daytime gabfest. Disney's ABC believes that “The View” is factual news and, therefore, is exempt from the equal time rule.

ABC's new campaign is claiming that “The View” really qualifies as a news talk show. A commercial aired Monday during the show announced, “'The View has hosted your favorite guests for nearly 30 years. Now the FCC wants to control who is allowed to appear on the show. Tell the FCC to let viewers decide. You have until July 6.”

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The campaign also encourages ABC News viewers to support the early renewal of broadcast licenses for the eight ABC-owned stations.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in April that KFSN-TV in Fresno, KABC-TV in Los Angeles, KGO-TV in San Francisco, WLS-TV in Chicago, WABC-TV in New York, WTVD in North Carolina, WPVI-TV in Philadelphia and KTRK-TV in Houston must prove that they were operating in the public interest as part of Disney's continued diversity. [DEI] habits.

The licenses of Disney-owned ABC affiliates were originally scheduled to be renewed between 2028 and 2031, but Trump's FCC accelerated the process.

ABC ran ads in those markets that said, “The FCC is questioning our commitment to viewers by threatening to take us off the air,” and urged viewers to speak up and help. ABC requires viewers to provide public comments through the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System and include the corresponding docket number with their submissions.

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On Monday, ABC launched an on-air campaign urging viewers to support “The View” against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). (ABC)

Both campaigns will run online and across ABC's social media platforms as ABC officials feel it's important for the public to know what's at stake and how to get directly involved in the process. Although the two issues are different, the ABC insists that they both involve the same free speech goal.

The FCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In January, the FCC announced that it would require broadcast networks to comply with “statutory equal opportunity requirements,” citing the Communications Act of 1934, “including their nighttime and daytime talk broadcasts.”

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Disney's campaign encourages ABC News viewers to support the early renewal of broadcast licenses for the eight ABC-owned channels.

There has long been a “bona fide” exception to news programs that would not require equal time for a dissident, but the FCC now says “no evidence has been presented that the interview portion of any late-night or daytime television talk show would qualify for the 'bona fide' news exemption.”

An FCC spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital, “Decades ago, Congress passed legislation that generally prohibited broadcast television programs from tipping a scale in favor of one political candidate over another. Specifically, Congress put in place safeguards to ensure that covered programs give candidates who are legally eligible for office (both Republican and Democrat) equal time on the public airwaves.”

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“The equal-time rule encourages more speech and gives voters the power to determine the outcome of elections. The FCC will review Disney's assertion that 'The View' is a 'definite news program' and thus exempt from political equal-time rules.”

Fox News Digital's Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.