Viacom might also run afoul of the Federal Communication Commission’s equal time rule. By law, radio and television stations must treat political candidates equally when it comes to selling or giving away airtime. There’s some debate as to whether this provision applies to all television networks, or just broadcast television. Nevertheless, cable channels generally abide by the equal-opportunity guideline to avoid a precedent-setting legal case. Each of the 16 presidential hopefuls could therefore demand as much time on Comedy Central as Colbert gets—about 20 minutes a night, four days a week. Faced with a similar situation earlier this year, NBC decided to stop airing Law & Order reruns featuring Fred Thompson. The cable network TNT, on the other hand, is risking the FCC’s ire by keeping its Thompson-heavy rerun schedule in tact.
uhhhh…how does Fox deal with this? I mean that as a serious question.
“The cable network TNT, on the other hand, is risking the FCC’s ire by keeping its Thompson-heavy rerun schedule in tact.”