“Then, then I was told in some uncertain terms that not only could I not have him on, I could not mention me not having him on. And because my network clearly doesn’t want us to talk about this, let’s talk about this.”<\/p>\n
Colbert, host of The Late Show, went on to explain that new FCC guidance on the “equal time” rule – which requires TV and radio broadcasters to give equal time to rival political candidates – could have created legal trouble for the network, according to CBS lawyers.<\/p>\n
The FCC regulates radio, TV and satellite airwaves, giving it power over a range of matters, including mergers and decency complaints.<\/p>\n
CBS flatly denied Colbert’s claims in a statement on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
“The Late Show was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep James Talarico,” the network said.<\/p>\n
The statement added: “The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates… and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled. <\/p>\n
“The Late Show decided to present the interview through its YouTube channel with on-air promotion on the broadcast rather than potentially providing the equal-time options.”<\/p>\n
The full interview was later posted on YouTube, where FCC rules don’t apply.<\/p>\n
News content has traditionally been exempted from the “equal time” rule.<\/p>\n
But the FCC has said the rule may soon apply to late-night programmes, like Colbert’s. It may also apply to political radio programmes, which tend to skew Republican.<\/p>\n
After issuing the new guidance in January, Brendan Carr, the FCC chairman known for taking an expansive view of his power, said on X that “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. <\/p>\n
“Today, the FCC reminded them of their obligation to provide all candidates with equal opportunities.” <\/p>\n
Trump has at times said he is considering pulling the FCC license for several US networks who he says have aired views that are critical of his presidency. <\/p>\n
Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, last July agreed to pay $16m (\u00a313.5m) to settle a legal dispute with President Donald Trump regarding an interview it broadcast on CBS with former Vice-President Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n
Business commentators have said the deal was made partly so as to not affect Paramount’s planned merger with Skydance Media, which Trump had the power to halt.<\/p>\n
Anna Gomez, the only Democrat on the FCC, condemned the response by CBS, saying it had the First Amendment constitutional right to free speech.<\/p>\n
“This is yet another troubling example of corporate capitulation in the face of this administration’s broader campaign to censor and control speech,” Gomez said in a statement, adding that the FCC has “no lawful authority to pressure broadcasters for political purposes”.<\/p>\n
She continued: “It is no secret that Paramount, CBS’s parent company, has regulatory matters before the government, but corporate interests cannot justify retreating from airing newsworthy content.”<\/p>\n
She has previously accused the FCC’s Republican leaders of using the equal time rule to unfairly penalise critics in violation of the constitutional right to free speech. <\/p>\n
The Late Show is due to end it’s 33-year run in May. Colbert has been the host since 2015.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“Then, then I was told in some uncertain terms that not only could I not have him on,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431692,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-431691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}