Aha, yes, I had conflated that in my mind with the late 'fairness doctrine'. Thanks for the correcting pointer.
Looks like the equal-time rule specifically triggers when one candidate is given free time on TV/radio (that doesn't fall under certain news/documentary exceptions). So even on TV/radio, a 'blackout', rather than favoring any one candidate, would be OK.
I suppose there could be campaign finance rules that come into play in some cases – if time/space was considered a undeclared donation. There was some noise about this with regard to the FEC and political bloggers in past US election cycles.
Looks like the equal-time rule specifically triggers when one candidate is given free time on TV/radio (that doesn't fall under certain news/documentary exceptions). So even on TV/radio, a 'blackout', rather than favoring any one candidate, would be OK.
I suppose there could be campaign finance rules that come into play in some cases – if time/space was considered a undeclared donation. There was some noise about this with regard to the FEC and political bloggers in past US election cycles.