On Tuesday night, the Viacom-owned cable network BET, which targets the African-American audience, was able to do something that no broadcast network could -- air, in its entirety, Barack Obama's speech hailing his primary victory that clinched the Democratic presidential nomination without having to give equal time to his presumed Republican rival, John McCain, and other qualified candidates. Under FCC regulations, if a broadcast network offers time to a political candidate (outside of a news program or a debate), it must offer equal time to all other candidates. The rule does not apply to cable networks like BET.
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