On January 22, 2026, the FCC issued guidance stating it had “not been presented with any evidence that the interview portion of any late night or daytime television talk show program on air presently would qualify for the bona fide news exemption” from the Section 315 equal time rule.
The rule requires broadcast stations that give airtime to one candidate for public office to provide equivalent time to opposing candidates. Programs treated as bona fide news interviews are exempt. Since a 2006 precedent, late-night and daytime talk shows had been assumed to fall within that exemption; the guidance withdrew the assumption, leaving each program to establish its own qualification. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the agency would apply the standard to programs including “The Late Show” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez described the move as “an escalation in this FCC’s ongoing campaign to censor and control speech.”
First documented consequence
On February 17, 2026, Stephen Colbert said on “The Late Show” that CBS lawyers had told staff “in no uncertain terms” that a taped interview with Texas state Rep. James Talarico, a candidate in the Texas U.S. Senate Democratic primary, could not be broadcast. He posted the interview to the show’s YouTube channel instead; the equal time rule reaches broadcast stations rather than online distribution. CBS, a unit of Paramount, said on February 18 that it had not prohibited the broadcast, describing what it provided as “legal guidance” and “options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled.” Colbert disputed that account on his next broadcast.
These CBS-internal specifics rest on the show’s own broadcasts and CBS’s public statement; no independent record of the legal advice has been published.