{"id":187886,"date":"2026-02-21T20:46:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T20:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/187886\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T20:46:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T20:46:23","slug":"stephen-colbert-trump-and-whats-making-broadcasters-nervous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/187886\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephen Colbert, Trump and what\u2019s making broadcasters nervous"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It was an extraordinary media moment: CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert on Tuesday publicly blasted<\/a> his own employer over its handling of his interview with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico of Texas.<\/p>\n

Colbert contended that his own network prevented him from airing the interview Monday in an effort to appease the Trump administration, which CBS has denied. He chose instead to put the sit-down with the Texas state legislator on YouTube, which is not regulated by the FCC.<\/p>\n

The standoff not only highlighted the simmering tensions inside CBS with the late-night host, it also marked the latest flash point in the ongoing clash between the Trump administration and leading media and entertainment figures \u2014 including other late-night hosts Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel \u2014 who have been openly critical of the president\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has been leading the administration\u2019s efforts, aggressively attempting to wield the long dormant equal-time rules<\/a> requiring broadcast TV stations to offer equal time to opposing candidates as a means of influencing the legacy media companies who President Trump says treat him unfairly.<\/p>\n

Carr contends that the effort is a long overdue corrective to combat what he and Trump believe is liberal bias in broadcast network news coverage. He has even threatened to pull TV station licenses<\/a> if programmers don\u2019t get in line.<\/p>\n

Last fall, he warned ABC that it could lose its TV station licenses after Kimmel made remarks on his program about slain right-wing activist Charlie Kirk that upset conservatives. Two major TV station groups pulled the program and the network suspended Kimmel\u2018s program<\/a> for a week.<\/p>\n

But experts say the efforts \u2014 along with the recent arrest of former CNN journalist Don Lemon<\/a> over civil rights charges \u2014 pose a threat to constitutionally protected freedom of speech and would likely face court challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want the government trying to make decisions as to what counts as political speech and what doesn\u2019t and what counts as fairness and what doesn\u2019t,\u201d media consultant Michael Harrison told The Times last month.<\/p>\n

Some experts are also skeptical that Carr will ever make good on those threats through greater enforcement of the equal time provision. <\/p>\n

Andrew Jay Schwartzman, a public interest communications attorney, said Carr is using his bully pulpit at the FCC to intimidate \u201ca timorous broadcasting industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\""The <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert \u201c on July 23, 2024.<\/p>\n

(Scott Kowalchyk \/ CBS)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just all bluster,\u201d said Schwartzman. \u201cBroadcasters are more interested in short-term regulatory relief from the FCC, and in the case of [CBS parent] Paramount, getting approval of a possible Warner Bros. Discovery deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

CBS cited financial losses as the reason for its cancellation of Colbert\u2019s \u201cLate Show,\u201d which ends in May \u2014 a decision that came just two months before CBS parent Paramount Global closed its merger deal with Skydance Media,<\/a> which required regulatory approval from the Trump administration. Paramount also has been attempting a hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. <\/p>\n

Paramount also drew scrutiny over its controversial decision to pay $16 million<\/a> to settle Trump\u2019s legal salvo against \u201c60 Minutes\u201d over the editing of an interview with his 2024 opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Most legal analysts viewed the case as frivolous.<\/p>\n

Jeffrey McCall, a communications professor at DePauw University, said he understands why CBS did not want to invite FCC scrutiny. <\/p>\n

\u201cCBS could have other matters in front of the FCC,\u201d McCall said. \u201cSo, I don\u2019t blame CBS for trying to tell Colbert like, \u2018Hey, back off.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

But McCall added that he sees no reason for the FCC to end or curtail the exemption daytime and late-night television talk shows have from laws requiring stations to offer equal broadcast opportunities to political candidates.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have a lot to do otherwise and I\u2019m just not sure this is worth their trouble,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The equal time rules were devised at a time when consumers had a limited number of media options. Broadcast TV is no longer dominant in the era of streaming, as evidenced by how the Talarico interview drew 8 million views on YouTube<\/a> \u2014 more than three times the typical TV audience for Colbert\u2019s show.<\/p>\n

Schwartzman noted that equal time provision cases are typically resolved quickly, as the rule applies only during an election campaign. <\/p>\n

If Talarico\u2019s interview had aired on TV and his opponents requested time, CBS would have to accommodate them ahead of the Texas primary election on March 3. (The network would not have been required to give time to Republican candidates.)<\/p>\n

CBS could have fulfilled the request by providing time on its affiliated stations in Texas. The opposing candidates did not have to appear on Colbert\u2019s show.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe remedy is you have to give them airtime,\u201d Schwartzman said. \u201cThat\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n

CBS wanted Colbert to steer clear of Talarico because the FCC previously announced it is \u201cinvestigating\u201d ABC over the candidate\u2019s appearance on \u201cThe View,\u201d according to a network executive not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Talarico was on the daytime talk show Feb. 2, which has led to the FCC launching an \u201cenforcement action\u201d on the matter.<\/p>\n

Representatives from CBS and ABC declined to comment.<\/p>\n

Appearing Wednesday on Fox News Channel\u2019s \u201cThe Ingraham Angle,\u201d Carr brushed off accusations by Democrats that he was using the rule to silence their candidates.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re doing now is simply applying the law on the books,\u201d Carr said.<\/p>\n

When host Laura Ingraham noted that if CBS had aired the Talarico interview, it would have meant free airtime for Talarico\u2019s primary opponent and high-profile Trump critic Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), Carr replied, \u201cIronically, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Schwartzman noted that if the FCC punished a network for ignoring the rule, the move would likely be challenged in court and take years to resolve. Even if the policy were violated, that would not be enough to get a station license pulled.<\/p>\n

\u201cA single violation or even a couple of violations of FCC policy are meaningless,\u201d Schwartzman said. \u201cYou have to demonstrate a pattern of violations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carr has also publicly supported Nexstar Media Group\u2019s proposed $6.2-billion merger with Tegna,<\/a> which would require the government to lift the ownership cap that limits TV station owners to coverage of 39% of the U.S. with their outlets.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, the merger has the support of Trump, who is pals with top Nexstar executive Sean Compton, who oversees its cable channel NewsNation.<\/a> <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need more competition against THE ENEMY, the Fake News National TV Networks,\u201d Trump wrote Feb. 7 on Truth Social. \u201cLetting Good Deals get done like Nexstar \u2014 Tegna will help knock out the Fake News because there will be more competition, and at a higher and more sophisticated level.\u201d<\/p>\n

How Nexstar could take on the broadcast networks is a mystery. Nexstar is highly dependent on its affiliations with ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox due to their contracts with the NFL, which provide the stations with their highest-rated programming. Those network affiliations also give Nexstar leverage in its negotiations to get carriage on cable and satellite providers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was an extraordinary media moment: CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert on Tuesday publicly blasted his own employer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187887,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[3587,13540,46126,29454,11105,88348,1520,48,52,51,47,50,49,5848,88347,34060,6336,88346,26111,315,1519],"class_list":{"0":"post-187886","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-abc","9":"tag-candidate","10":"tag-carr","11":"tag-cbs","12":"tag-fcc","13":"tag-fcc-equal-time-rule","14":"tag-interview","15":"tag-la","16":"tag-la-headlines","17":"tag-la-news","18":"tag-los-angeles","19":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","20":"tag-los-angeles-news","21":"tag-network","22":"tag-nexstar","23":"tag-opponent","24":"tag-paramount","25":"tag-schwartzman","26":"tag-stephen-colbert","27":"tag-time","28":"tag-trump"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}