I am not a loyal viewer of The View. Indeed, what little I’ve seen of The View makes me want to watch Pickleball TV or Velocity MotorTrend Turbo. Others, however, disagree and watch five women (nary a man) regularly prove that one can hold strong opinions about politics and law without having any corresponding knowledge of politics or law. This has made Trump angry, which in turn means that Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr mad.

The regulatory filing marked the latest stage in a confrontation between the broadcasting networks and Carr, who has used his tenure atop the nominally independent FCC to wage a series of fights against perceived foes of President Donald Trump.

In this case, the dispute involves Carr’s efforts to wield a decades-old “equal time” rule to demand that broadcast talk shows such as ABC’s “The View” offer equal time to both parties when interviewing political candidates. Such shows had previously relied on the FCC’s exemption for what it calls “bona fide” news interviews — but now, their ability to air those interviews is in doubt, ABC wrote.

Carr’s threatened actions range from compelling The View to air interviews with opposing candidates to pulling ABC’s broadcast license. ABC, which had earlier tried to buy Trump’s love by paying $16 million to Trump for a frivolous claim against George Stephanopoulos, has taken a different tack this time around.

In an unusual move, ABC began airing direct appeals to the audience Monday during the show’s commercial breaks, asking viewers to support the program in a battle with the F.C.C. over political speech.

“‘The View’ has welcomed your favorite guests and covered the issues you care about for nearly 30 years,” a voice intones on a 20-second spot. “Now, the F.C.C. wants to control who is allowed to appear on the show.”

The spot concludes with a QR code that directs viewers to the F.C.C.’s website.

The QR code leads the viewer to the FCC website to provide a statement to the FCC as to the viewer’s position on proposed action. This approach of a direct appeal to viewers to let the FCC know their views is novel. Then again, the agency’s proposal to potentially dismantle a legacy broadcast media company is novel as well.

But the company has aggressively pushed back against the F.C.C. review of its ownership of local stations and its scrutiny of “The View.” It called one of the agency’s maneuvers “unprecedented, beyond the commission’s authority and counterproductive to the commission’s stated goal of encouraging free speech and open political discussion,” in a filing with the F.C.C.

For its part, the FCC appears antagonistic to ABC’s efforts.

A spokeswoman for the F.C.C. said in a statement that Disney’s TV campaign was “misleading viewers about the law.”

Is the FCC right to challenge the network’s failure to abide by the equal time rules, which exempts bona fide news interviews? While The View may certainly be entertaining, is it also a legitimate news source for interviews of candidates or politicians in the news? After all, it’s not like comedian Jimmy Kimmel, about whom Trump has unpleasant words.

ABC is bringing the battle to its viewers, hoping that their support will persuade Carr that it would be highly unpopular and hence politically problematic to try to shut down ABC or strip it of its affiliates across the country. Will it work, given that Carr, the head of a putative independent agency, cares a whole lot more about what Trump feels than what the rest of the television viewership has to say?

For its part, the FCC “seeks” comments from the public about the matter.

Full Title: FCC’s Media Bureau Seeks Comment on Petition by Disney’s ABC Asking the FCC to Declare that The View Qualifies as a Bona Fide News Interview Program and Thus is Exempt from the Statutory Equal Opportunities Requirements
Document Type: Public Notice
Bureau(s): Media
DA/FCC #: DA-26-517
Docket No: 26-124

Is The View a bona fide news interview program? Should it be subject to the equal time rules? Will the FCC back down if ABC’s appeal to the public demonstrates overwhelming support for the network even though it would make Trump angry? Is this the future means of challenging bureaucratic overreach? Will it work?

*Tuesday Talk rules apply.