equal time

American

noun

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.

equal time Cultural

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.

Etymology

Origin of equal time

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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

From Slate

Can you explain to us what the equal time rule actually is, how it has been operative for most of my career as a journalist, and what it’s being used to do now?

From Slate

Sonja West: The equal time rule is a regulatory rule that comes from the Federal Communications Commission, dating back to the times of actual broadcast airwaves, and a concept that those broadcast airwaves belong to the people as a whole, and therefore there should be some interests the public might have in how they’re used.

From Slate

No longer did those broadcast stations need to give equal time.

From Slate

This all led to, according to Colbert, him being explicitly told that he could not run that interview, or at least not without giving equal time.

From Slate

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023