The FCC’s 2002 determination “has remained unchallenged and unchanged since that time and, to this day, The View remains fully qualified for the exemption under the applicable legal standards,” ABC said.

Today’s FCC Media Bureau public notice described the 2002 ruling as “a letter from an FCC staffer.” The ABC petition said the 2002 letter was “a Declaratory Ruling from the Mass Media Bureau,” which “remains in full force and effect.”

ABC challenges legality of equal-time rule

Besides asking for comment on whether The View is a bona fide news show, the FCC proceeding offers an opportunity for people to comment on whether the equal-time rule itself is constitutional. ABC’s petition argued that the rule “raises profound First Amendment concerns” because of the limits it imposes on editorial decisions about what guests to feature.

“At a minimum, the equal opportunities rule could not survive constitutional scrutiny without the kind of robust bona fide news exemption that the Commission has applied for decades,” ABC said.

The FCC Media Bureau notice responded to ABC’s constitutional argument by asking for public comment on whether “the federal equal opportunities statute pass[es] relevant constitutional scrutiny, either as a general matter or as applied here.”

The docket has already received a few dozen comments today. Most are from people writing that The View is not a real news show, but one commenter said the FCC investigation “is misguided and unfounded, especially as it apparently did not stem from any formal complaint regarding The View violating the equal time provisions or its long-standing status as a bona fide news program.”

The FCC set a June 22 deadline for initial comments, and a July 6 deadline for reply comments.