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{{Short description|U.S. radio and television law}}
{{About||the former cable-news show|Equal Time (TV program)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}

The '''equal-time rule''' ([[Title 47 of the United States Code|47 U.S. Code]] § 315 - Candidates for public office<ref>{{cite web |last1=Legal Information Institute |title=47 U.S. Code § 315 - Candidates for public office |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/315 |access-date=July 28, 2024}}</ref>) specifies that American radio and television broadcast stations must provide equivalent access to competing political candidates. This means, for example, that if a station broadcasts a message by a candidate, it must offer the same amount of time on the same terms (in, say, prime time) to an opposing candidate.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Miller |first1=Philip |title=Media Law for Producers |date=February 11, 2013 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=9781136046025 |page=340 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w5vcAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA340 |access-date=March 24, 2016}}</ref>

== Details ==
This rule originated in §18 of the [[Radio Act of 1927]] which established the [[Federal Radio Commission]]; it was later superseded by the [[Communications Act of 1934]], with the FRC becoming the FCC, the [[Federal Communications Commission]]. A related provision, in §315(b), requires that broadcasters offer time to candidates at the same rate as their "most favored advertiser".

The equal-time rule was created due to concerns that broadcast stations could easily manipulate the outcome of elections by presenting just one point of view and excluding other candidates.

There are several exceptions to the equal-time rule; 

*If the airing was within a documentary, ''bona fide'' news interview, scheduled newscast, or an on-the-spot news event, the equal-time rule does not apply. 
*Since 1983, political [[debate]]s not hosted directly by a station or network are considered "news events," and as a result, they are not subject to the rule. Usually, these debates are coordinated through a third party such as the [[Commission on Presidential Debates]], a state broadcaster's association, a newspaper independent of a television station/network, or the [[League of Women Voters]]. Consequently, these debates usually include only major-party candidates without having to offer airtime to minor-party or independent candidates, or inflammatory candidates who intend only to disrupt the proceedings. 
*Talk shows and other regular news programming from [[broadcast syndication|syndicators]], such as ''[[Entertainment Tonight]]'', are also declared exempt from the rule by the FCC on a case-by-case basis.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/anderson-cooper-talk-show-269175|title=Anderson Cooper's Talk Show Is a News Program, FCC Rules; The government regulators have determined talk show qualifies as news and is thus exempt from obligations to giving political candidates equal air time.|last=Gardner|first=Eriq|date=December 2, 2011|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|access-date=December 24, 2011}}</ref>
*Advertisements: if a candidate has more money than an opponent, they can still get more time on the public airwaves without their ads counting towards the equal time rule.

When candidates for office have careers in media, the rule can affect previously produced material. When [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[Donald Trump]] ran for president, television networks did not broadcast films or programs they appeared in.<ref name = Battaglio>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-11-30/dr-oz-show-senate-announcement-pennsylvania-fcc-rules|title=Here's what happens to Dr. Oz's talk show now that he's running for Senate|last=Battaglio|first=Stephen|date=November 30, 2021|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=December 1, 2021}}</ref> Localized invocations of the rule apply in elections for lower office, with television stations revising their schedules if they broadcast within the state or district where the candidate in question is running.<ref name = Battaglio/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/dr-oz-show-ending-january-pennsylvania-senate-1235132077/|title='Dr. Oz Show' to End in January as Host Pursues Pennsylvania Senate Run|first=Joe|last=Otterson|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=December 13, 2021|access-date=December 13, 2021}}</ref>

The equal-time rule was suspended by Congress in 1960 to permit the [[1960 United States presidential debates|Kennedy-Nixon debates]] to take place.<ref>Pietrusza D. 1960:LBJ vs. JFK vs. Nixon. Union Square Press 2008</ref>

== Fairness doctrines ==
The equal-time rule should not be confused with the now-defunct [[FCC fairness doctrine]], which dealt with presenting balanced points of view on matters of public importance.

The [[Zapple doctrine]] (part of a specific provision of the fairness doctrine) was similar to the equal-time rule but applied to different political campaign participants. The equal-time rule applies to the political candidate only. The Zapple doctrine had the same purpose and requirements of equivalent coverage opportunity as the equal-time rule, but its scope included the candidate's spokesman and supporters, not the candidate.<ref>{{cite web|title=FCC Decides that it will No Longer Enforce the Zapple Doctrine – Killing the Last Remnant of the Fairness Doctrine|url=http://www.broadcastlawblog.com/2014/05/articles/fcc-decides-that-it-will-no-longer-enforce-the-zapple-doctrine-killing-the-last-remnant-of-the-fairness-doctrine/|website=Broadcast Law Blog|first=David|last=Oxenford|access-date=September 6, 2017|date=May 8, 2014}}</ref>

==References==
===Footnotes===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
*[https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/315- Communications Act of 1934, § 315; codified at 47 U.S.C. § 315]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051206030104/http://showcase.netins.net/web/akline/pdf/1927act.pdf Radio Act of 1927]

===Further reading===
* {{cite report|title=Selected FCC Regulatory Policies: Their Purpose and Consequences for Commercial Radio and TV|date=June 4, 1979|publisher=[[Government Accountability Office]]|pages=143–155|url=https://www.gao.gov/assets/ced-79-62.pdf|access-date=January 3, 2025}}
* {{cite report|last=Holmes|first=Eric N.|date=October 7, 2024|title=The Equal Time Rule for Political Candidates: Constitutional Context|publisher=[[Congressional Research Service]]|url=https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB11239|access-date=December 31, 2024}}

==External links==
*[http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/E/htmlE/equaltimeru/equaltimeru.htm Equal Time Rule] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051125162557/http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/E/htmlE/equaltimeru/equaltimeru.htm |date=November 25, 2005 }} in The Museum of Broadcast Communications
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060801090839/http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itdhr/1000/ijde/cs322.13.htm Radio and TV Stations Required to Give Equal Time] in ''Issues of Democracy''
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20091028181945/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761566157_4/Broadcasting.html#p123 MSN Encarta – Equal Time Rule] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20091028181945/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761566157_4/Broadcasting.html Archived]  2009-10-31)

{{Federal Communications Commission}}
{{Calvin Coolidge}}
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[[Category:Political mass media in the United States]]
[[Category:United States communications regulation]]
[[Category:Broadcast law]]
[[Category:Federal Communications Commission]]
[[Category:1927 establishments in the United States]]