By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-06-22 22:10:58 | Updated at 2026-06-24 13:45:22
1 day ago
ABC is urging viewers of The View to get involved with its feud with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) about political speech.
An advert that started airing Monday depicted the daytime show's late founder, Barbara Walters, touting the program as a place for 'different women, different points of view.'
A narrator then warns how the FCC now 'wants to control who is allowed to appear on the show' and begs viewers to 'use your voice.'
'The View has welcomed your favorite guests and covered the issues you care about for nearly 30 years now.'
A separate campaign currently airing on the network's flagship station, WABC-TV, tells New Yorkers the same, while flashing images from The View, Good Morning America, and World News Tonight.
'New Yorkers, use your voice... Channel 7 has proudly served you for more than 75 years. Every day, we commit to inform, entertain and serve you.
'Now the FCC is questioning our commitment to the community,' another narrator says.
Both spots directed viewers to a QR code that linked to the FCC's public comment page after Trump-appointed FCC Chairman Brendan Carr ordered an early review into ABC's already scheduled license renewals for eight of its stations back in April.
ABC started asking viewers to back The View and the network's local affiliates amid an FCC's into parent company Disney's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives
A spot that started airing on The View Monday asserted: 'The FCC wants to control who is allowed to appear on the show. Viewers, use your voice'
'You have until July 29 to tell the FCC to keep your trusted local station on the air,' viewers in New York, LA, Chicago, Philly, Houston, San Francisco, Fresno, and Raleigh, North Carolina, are being told.
The 29th is when the FCC's public comment period expires.
The early renewal order was made in April following an investigation into Disney's DEI initiatives, Carr said on CNBC in April.
The probe found affiliates were not operating in the public interest, according to Carr.
'If the facts show that Disney was discriminating against people based on race or gender, that could be a real problem with respect to their ability to continue to hold a license,' he said.
At the same time, Carr opened an investigation on possible violations of the 92-year-old 'Equal Time' rule, which was revived by FCC this year after decades of exemptions.
The guidance was originally meant to ensure radio stations provided equal air time to opposing political candidates back in the 1930s.
ABC quickly labeled the move 'unprecedented' and 'beyond the Commission’s authority' in a subsequent statement.
In a spot aired on ABC's flagship WABC-TV, a narrator warned New Yorkers: 'You have until July 29 to tell the FCC to keep your trusted local station on the air'
The promo showed stills from newscasts like ABC World News Tonight With David Muir
The Daily Mail has approached ABC News for comment.
The early renewal order was made days after Trump called for the firing of ABC's late-night host Jimmy Kimmel. Kimmel joked that First Lady Melania exuded all the grace of 'an expectant widow' days before.
Melania saw the April sketch as 'hateful and violent,' she said in a statement, while Kimmel maintained the joke was a nod to the May-December nature of their relationship and the first lady's at-times icy demeanor.
Trump's former relationship with Jeffrey Epstein has been fodder for Kimmel for months as well, as the administration continues to face criticism for its handling of related case files.
He has also claimed CBS's decision to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last month was the work of the administration.
Kimmel's current contract is set to expire in May of next year, ABC has previously said.
