What's the equal time rule at the heart of the Colbert-CBS dispute?
CBC
A fight between comedian Stephen Colbert and the network that airs his late night show is bringing attention to a nearly century-old broadcast requirement, known as the equal time rule.
In Monday night's episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the host said lawyers for CBS told him "in no uncertain terms" that he could not air an interview with Texas Democrat James Talarico who is running for senate.
"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," Colbert said. He then cheekily launched into a segment about the dispute and the reasons behind it.
In a statement, CBS denied Colbert's characterization, but said the show had merely "provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule."
The equal time rule is the requirement that mandates broadcasters to give equal airtime to all candidates running in elections, and it's at the heart of the dispute between Colbert and his employer.
But what does that rule actually say, and how has it been enforced in the past? Here's what to know.
The equal time rule is part of the Communications Act of 1934 — the act made to govern broadcast programs across the U.S. which is still in force today.
Section 315(a) — which isn't technically called the “equal time” rule but is referred to as such colloquially — says that if one candidate in an election is given airtime on a show, then all other candidates running for the same position have to get the same chance, too. The section also has rules about political advertisements.
The goal is to prevent broadcasters from favouring one party or one set of views — but there have long been some exceptions, including for newscasts, "bona fide" interview programs, coverage of live events or documentaries.
Political interviews on talk shows have long been interpreted as being exempt because those one-on-one political interviews play a role in informing viewers.
Equal time also only applies to broadcast television and radio — so pieces on streaming services and social media aren't covered by it at all, and the rules mostly don't apply to cable.
Harold Feld, a communication and technology lawyer and senior vice president at freedom of expression think tank Public Knowledge, points out that hasn't always been the case. In 1960, an interview with Richard Nixon on The Jack Paar Show triggered the equal time rule when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said the interview on the entertainment show didn't count as a "bona fide" interview.
But things have changed since then. The FCC later ruled in favour of late night hosts having politicians on their show with no need to give equal time to their rival candidates, which gave way to Phil Donahue being allowed to interview then-Democratic presidential hopeful Jesse Jackson, Jay Leno's interview with incumbent governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger, and even Bill Clinton giving it on the saxophone on The Arsenio Hall Show.
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