TNT to Air Thompson on `Law & Order'

AP via SFGate ^ | 8/31/7 | DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer

[SmithL]

NEW YORK, (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.

"TNT has no plans to alter its schedule," spokeswoman Shirley Powell said, a stance that could provoke a fight in the courts or before the Federal Communications Commission.

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.

[Borges]

Whoever sues is going to look like a petty fool.

[Pistolshot]

IB4TG

[Uriah_lost]

Arnie’s films ran on cable networks during his campaign. I don’t think TNT would chance it if they thought they could be challenged.

[mainepatsfan]

Not to mention the movies he’s appeared in.

[So Cal Rocket]

he 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 seems pretty clear to me:

(a) If any licensee shall permit any person who is a legally qualified candidate for any public office to use a broadcasting station, he shall afford equal opportunities to all other such candidates for that office in the use of such broadcasting station...

[So Cal Rocket]

Oh, and just in case there was any fuzz about what a "broadcasting system" was, they went ahead and defined it in the text of the law:

the term “broadcasting station” includes a community antenna television system;

TNT is NOT a broadcasting station. If the writer of this piece, or his editor, had taken two minutes to actually read the law, they would know this... sloppy journalism strikes again.

[PAR35]

I was getting ready to post this, but I see you beat me to it. Did the mods move it to chat?

[Always Right]

And Thompson is not using it. He just happens to be in the show.

[papasmurf]

Yes, and we have been posting this fact for 4 months. Yet the gnats kept on claiming he was waiting to announce till L&O was over, and then so his friends wouldn’t lose pay, etc., etc.

[SmithL]

No, I decided to save them the trouble.

[weegee]

So appearing on an interview is EXEMPT but appearing on a fictional program requires “equal time”? Only if the candidates are publicly willing to say that THEY TOO are engaging in fictional distortions.