US agency investigating if ABC's 'The View' violated equal time rules for political candidates

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9. As someone who has practiced Communications Law for 45 years, I can assure you that licensees pay attention to it.

The Equal Opportunities rule applies only to appearances by legally qualified candidates for office during a campaign and is intended to prevent broadcast licensees from providing valuable airtime to only one candidate. A related statutory rule -- the Lowest Unit Rate rule -- requires station licensees to make advertising time available to candidates at the lowest rate offered to anyone else.

The Fairness Doctrine was intended to ensure that at all times, not just during political campaigns, broadcasters covered controversial topics of public concern and allowed for competing viewpoints to be heard.