Equal Time Rule: Definition, Exemptions, and How to Request It

The equal time rule is a federal broadcasting law, codified at 47 U.S.C. § 315, that requires any radio or television station giving airtime to a political candidate to offer the same opportunity to every other candidate running for that office. It applies only to stations operating under FCC broadcast licenses. Cable networks, streaming services, podcasts, and social media platforms are not covered.¹

The rule exists to prevent a station from using its control over public airwaves to tilt an election toward a favored candidate. It does not require balance on political issues generally, and it does not reach outside spending. It’s narrow by design, and understanding its edges is most of understanding the rule.

Which Stations Have to Follow It

Only broadcast licensees. That means local television and radio stations transmitting on publicly licensed frequencies. A cable-only channel, a satellite service, a streaming platform, or a website is outside the rule entirely.¹ Much political advertising has moved online in recent cycles, and no equivalent federal access requirement follows it there.

Who Can Claim Equal Time

Not just anyone who says they’re running. A person must be a “legally qualified candidate,” which under FCC rules means meeting all three of these conditions:

Has publicly announced their intention to run for a specific office.
Meets the qualifications for that office under applicable federal, state, or local law.
Has qualified for a place on the ballot, or is mounting a genuine write-in campaign with a “substantial showing” of activity such as speeches, press releases, a campaign website, and a campaign committee.²

The substantial-showing test is where the write-in path gets real teeth. Declaring yourself a candidate does not by itself create a right to airtime; the FCC looks for tangible campaigning first.¹

What Triggers the Rule

The obligation kicks in whenever a candidate makes a “use” of a station. A use is any appearance of the candidate’s recognizable voice or image on air that isn’t covered by one of the statutory news exemptions. Paid ads, free airtime, and entertainment appearances all count.

The concept reaches further than most people expect. When a candidate has a background in broadcasting or film, airing previously produced content featuring that person also counts as a use. Stations have historically pulled reruns and films featuring candidates to avoid triggering equal time claims from every opponent in the race. Air a movie starring someone now on the ballot, and every other candidate for that seat could ask for comparable airtime.³

Surrogates and endorsers don’t trigger the rule. If a well-known supporter goes on the air advocating for a candidate but the candidate’s own voice or image never appears, opponents have no equal time claim.

What “Equal” Actually Means

Equal time isn’t just equal minutes. The statute requires comparable placement. A station can’t discharge its obligation by handing an opponent a late-night slot when the original candidate ran in prime time; the time periods must reach audiences of similar size.⁴

On price, the statute creates two tiers. During the 45 days before a primary and the 60 days before a general or special election, a candidate is entitled to the station’s “lowest unit charge” for the same class and amount of time. That is the cheapest rate the station offers its best commercial advertisers for equivalent slots. Outside those windows, candidates pay whatever the station normally charges comparable advertisers.³

The News Coverage Exemptions

Four kinds of broadcast content do not count as a “use” and so do not trigger equal time:

Bona fide newscasts covering candidate activities as part of ordinary reporting.
Bona fide news interviews on programs where the station or an independent producer controls format, content, and guest selection based on newsworthiness.
Bona fide news documentaries, if the candidate’s appearance is incidental to the subject rather than the focus.
On-the-spot coverage of news events, such as political conventions and debates.³

The phrase “bona fide” is doing serious work. A program built to promote a candidate does not qualify, even if it looks like a news show. The FCC weighs whether the program is regularly scheduled, whether the broadcaster genuinely controls it, and whether booking decisions turn on news value or partisan purpose.⁴

Talk Shows Are Not Automatically Exempt

Whether a talk show appearance triggers equal time is one of the most contested questions under the rule. In January 2026, the FCC’s Media Bureau issued guidance clarifying that late-night and daytime talk shows do not automatically qualify for the bona fide news interview exemption. The Bureau specifically noted that it had not been presented with evidence that the interview portion of any talk show currently on air would qualify.⁴ A station that wants certainty can file a petition for declaratory ruling with the FCC. Without one, exemption is decided case by case on the facts.

The No-Censorship Trade-Off

Section 315 also strips broadcasters of editorial control over candidate ads. The statute states that a station “shall have no power of censorship over the material broadcast” under the rule.³ A station cannot edit, alter, or reject a candidate’s ad based on its content, even if the ad is false or defamatory.

That raises an obvious problem. If a station can’t refuse a defamatory ad, can it be sued for airing one? The Supreme Court answered no in Farmers Educational & Cooperative Union v. WDAY, holding that because the law forbids censorship, it would be “unconscionable” to impose liability on a station for airing exactly what the law requires. Broadcasters are immune from defamation claims arising from candidate ads they are legally barred from editing.⁵ The no-censorship rule protects a candidate’s own use, not ads run by outside groups on the candidate’s behalf.

PACs and Outside Groups Get Nothing

Political action committees, super PACs, party organizations, and other outside groups have no rights under the equal time rule. Section 315 protects legally qualified candidates, not the organizations spending money for them.⁴ These groups don’t qualify for lowest unit charge rates during pre-election windows, and stations may refuse to air their ads entirely, something stations generally cannot do with ads from federal candidates.

Reasonable Access Is a Separate Rule

A related provision, 47 U.S.C. § 312(a)(7), requires broadcast stations to allow reasonable access, or to permit the purchase of reasonable amounts of time, by legally qualified candidates for federal office. This is an independent obligation. Equal time is triggered only when a station gives airtime to one candidate; reasonable access is owed to federal candidates regardless. A station that refuses to sell any time at all to a federal candidate risks losing its license.⁶ The reasonable access rule does not cover state and local candidates.

How to Request Equal Time

A candidate who wants equal time must submit a formal request to the station within one week of the opponent’s appearance that triggered the right. Miss the seven-day deadline and the claim for that broadcast is gone.⁷ One exception: if a person was not yet a legally qualified candidate at the time of the original broadcast, the seven days start from the first subsequent use after they became qualified.

Requests go in writing to station management. Stations don’t have to notify opponents that an appearance occurred, so campaigns need to monitor broadcasts themselves. Stations must post notice of any candidate use in the online political file “as soon as possible” after the broadcast, which gives opposing campaigns a way to check.⁴

If the station won’t provide equal time, a candidate can file an informal complaint with the FCC at no cost, online at fcc.gov/complaints, by phone at 1-888-225-5322, or by mail. No lawyer is required.⁸ Once the FCC serves the complaint on the station, the station has 30 days to respond in writing to both the FCC and the complainant. Given campaign timelines, filing promptly matters. A complaint resolved after election day is worth very little to a candidate who needed the airtime beforehand.

Equal Time Rule vs. the Fairness Doctrine

The two are often confused, but they are separate policies with different legal statuses. The equal time rule remains active federal law. The Fairness Doctrine, introduced by the FCC in 1949 and eliminated in 1987, is defunct.

They also differ in scope. The equal time rule is narrow: it applies only to political candidates and only to broadcast stations, and it requires equal opportunities when airtime is given. The Fairness Doctrine was broader, requiring stations to cover controversial public issues and present contrasting viewpoints. It wasn’t limited to elections and didn’t require equal time, only that opposing perspectives received some coverage. With the Fairness Doctrine gone, stations have no general obligation to present balanced coverage of political issues. What they still owe is equal access to the candidates themselves.

1
Federal Communications Commission. FCC Political Programming Rules
2
eCFR. 47 CFR 73.1940 – Legally Qualified Candidates for Public Office
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 47 USC 315 – Candidates for Public Office
4
Federal Communications Commission. FCC’s Media Bureau Provides Guidance on Political Equal Opportunities Requirement for Broadcast Television Stations
5
Legal Information Institute. Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union of America v WDAY Inc
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 47 U.S. Code 312 – Administrative Sanctions
7
eCFR. 47 CFR 73.1941 – Equal Opportunities
8
Federal Communications Commission. Filing an Informal Complaint