equal time

American  

noun

1. an equal amount of time on the air, which radio and television licensees are required to offer to opposing candidates for public office and to those voicing diverging views on public referendums.

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equal time Cultural  

1. A ruling of the United States government, administered by the Federal Communications Commission, requiring that all candidates for public office be given equal access to the free or paid use of radio and television.

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Etymology

Origin of equal time

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

equal time

This exemption to the equal time rule has historically been extended to daytime and late-night television programs.

From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026

ABC has asked the FCC to rule on the status of “The View,” which received an exemption from the rarely enforced equal time provision in 2002.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026

These were said to usher in a potential re-examination of late-night TV’s longstanding exemption to rules requiring equal time for candidates of different political parties.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 27, 2026

This is thanks to the network’s pretextual-sounding claims about the equal time rule.

From Slate ● Feb. 24, 2026

Then he started talking about let a equal acceleration and let t equal time and suddenly he was scribbling letters and numbers and equals signs all over the blackboard and my mind went dead.

From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath