Commentary: Kimmel 'bypassed' regulations for a James Talarico interview that 'the FCC doesn't want you to see'

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

See more from the L.A.Times in Google Search.

Set us as preferred The video is titled “Jimmy Kimmel’s Interview With James Talarico That the FCC Doesn’t Want You to See.” It was posted Thursday night on the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!’s” YouTube page.By 10 a.m.

Friday, the video had gained more than 2.7 million views — and the interview hadn’t aired on the show’s network, ABC.“… We are being targeted by the FCC for the crime of interviewing political candidates,” Kimmel says in the YouTube clip.“Even though for years we, and every other late-night talk show, have welcomed numerous candidates, including Donald Trump when he was running.

He was on this show two times.[Trump’s] FCC has threatened me, threatened our show, threatened our network, ABC, our affiliates, our local stations, because they want to make our editorial decisions for us, which of course, we cannot accept.”The host continued: “Tonight we are bypassing the public airwaves and hosting this interview on YouTube, even though our government would clearly prefer we not do it at all.”The late-night host moved his interview with the Democratic candidate for U.S.

Senate in Texas online to sidestep new Federal Communications Commission policy regulations.Kimmel said earlier in the week that the FCC had “threatened” his show.“For the whole 20-plus years of our show, in fact, I’ve been interviewing Americans who are running for office with no problem,” Kimmel said during Wednesday’s ABC broadcast.

“Something has changed,” he said.The change Kimmel was referring to involves the Communications Act’s “equal opportunities” requirement.

It states that if a broadcast station features a qualified political candidate, it must provide equal airtime to an opposing candidate.Daytime and late-night talk shows have long operated under a “bona fide news program” exemption...