FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is aggressively pushing stricter broadcast standards on liberal-leaning TV hosts like Jimmy Kimmel — while conspicuously leaving conservative talk radio untouched.
In recent actions, including new FCC guidance on equal-time rules for TV talk shows, Carr has targeted platforms that often criticize conservatives, insisting they must provide balanced airtime or face consequences. Kimmel and similar hosts have publicly pushed back, with Kimmel mocking the moves as overreach. Yet when directly asked about applying the same scrutiny to talk radio — a medium overwhelmingly dominated by right-wing voices — Carr dismissed the need, citing no equivalent "misconstrued precedents" on the radio side, even though the underlying rules technically apply to both TV and radio broadcasters.
Conservative talk radio, featuring hosts such as Mark Levin, Dan Bongino, and Clay Travis, reaches millions of daily listeners with commentary that frequently outpaces even Fox News in intensity and often serves as an incubator for conspiracy theories before they reach wider audiences.
Media critics and newsletters have largely shrugged at this disparity, exposing a significant blind spot. Coverage tends to fixate on cable news, streaming services, social media, and culturally prominent podcasts — formats familiar to urban, online, liberal-leaning observers in places like Brooklyn or D.C.
Talk radio, by contrast, feels dated, less digital, and easier to overlook by media critics. Ignoring it overlooks how a huge segment of politically active Americans actually gets its information.
Carr's approach appears calculated: zero in on TV personalities and shows perceived as left-leaning while shielding the most unfiltered, unaccountable corner of the conservative media ecosystem.