Anachonism
News from the era when TV’s were steam and gas powered. AP:
While Fred Thompson’s “Law & Order” character disappears from NBC starting Saturday because of concerns over federal equal time provisions, cable viewers will still have plenty of opportunities to see his District Attorney Arthur Branch. TNT will air 23 episodes of the drama next week alone, apparently unworried about limiting Branch’s airplay even as the Tennessee Republican plans to announce his presidential candidacy…
Equal time rules require TV stations to provide the same airtime to opponents when a candidate appears on the air. The many exceptions — news shows, talk shows, interviews, documentaries — essentially mean the rules apply to entertainment programming.
Thompson’s expected post-Labor Day entrance into the race triggered NBC’s decision to stop airing “Law & Order” reruns featuring him starting Sept. 1. Next week Thompson will essentially shift time slots on NBC: The “Tonight” show announced said that he will appear as a guest with Jay Leno on Thursday.
The equal time rules were written when cable was in its infancy, and it has never been clear whether or not they apply only to broadcast stations. It would seemingly take a challenge from one of Thompson’s opponents to force a clarification.
When Arnold Schwarzenegger first ran for California governor, Sci Fi and FX decided against broadcasting his movies because of equal time worries. But TNT and its sister station TBS both showed “Terminator” in 2003. “The Last Action Hero,” “Conan the Barbarian,” “Conan the Destroyer” and “Kindergarten Cop” all aired on one of the Turner networks that year, too…
Cable’s growth could make it harder for its executives to argue that it should receive different treatment from broadcasters. TNT dramas like “The Closer” and “Saving Grace” this summer had larger audiences than much of what was shown on broadcast networks.
How many people does the government employ to think about nonsense like this? How much do they cost the taxpayers? We can think of so many more interesting things the government could be doing with those resources and its meddling instincts in the interests of fairness and free speech.