“I’ve got to say, I’m friendly with the ladies on The View. 
But they didn’t say anything about this this week.  Nothing. 
You know, because it’s never been their thing to weigh in on the issues.”
– Bill Maher on ABC’s The View not commenting on Jimmy Kimmel
being “indefinitely suspended” by the same network.

Given what I’ve written thus far, my fondness for the First Amendment is pretty well documented.  This right should protect all people – just like I have the right to ignore them.  Alas, that did not extend to Jimmy Kimmel, who was “indefinitely suspended” by ABC/Disney, which is known to protect rights of most critters – from singing crickets to pesky rodents (but don’t get me started on rabbits and bears in the Old South!).   The issue came to a head when the Chairman of the FCC, Brendan Carr, threatened ABC.  “Over the years, the FCC has developed a body of case law on that and has suggested that most of these late night shows, other than SNL, are bona fide news programs”.  Of course, anyone getting their news from Michael Che and Colin Jost has bigger problems than can be dealt with within the confines of this column.

Predictably, all hell broke loose throughout the broadcast landscape – with the sole exception of The View.  On ABC’s flagship daytime chat show, the subject never came up.  There was a good reason for that.  The View holds a unique place in the television landscape since it straddles both the entertainment and the news divisions – much like David Muir straddles…well, let’s not even go there.  Make no mistaken, Carr has the ladies in his sights.  “Potentially I would assume you can make the argument that The View is a bona fide news show, but I’m not so sure about that, and I think it’s worthwhile to have the FCC look into whether The View and some of the programs that you have still qualify as bona fide news programs.”  While the show is produced by ABC News, all of the anchors have contracts with the entertainment division of the network (the sole exception was the late Barbara Walters, who always worked for ABC News).