Equal Time (TV program)

Equal Time was an American political talk show that was broadcast on CNBC from 1993 to 1999. The show was filmed in the studios of Conus Communications from 1994 to 1999. One of the main hooks of the show was its aim to include more female voices in the typically male-dominated world of Beltway politics. Throughout the show's run, both co-hosts were female, starting in 1995 with the Republican strategist Mary Matalin as the conservative co-presenter and the journalist Jane Wallace as her liberal counterpart. Wallace left the show in 1995 and was replaced by the former White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers. Matalin left in 1996 and was replaced by Bay Buchanan. In 1997, Myers was replaced by the comedian Stephanie Miller after a long series of liberal-leaning co-hosts were auditioned over many months by CNBC for the role.

During its four-year run, the show eventually morphed from a softball interview format into a more hard-hitting political forum, not unlike Crossfire. It also morphed from a program that was initially designed to tilt the balance away from male-dominated talk programming, and thus provide "Equal Time" for women on television, into a program that suited the more traditional left/right (and thus, politically, "Equal Time) format.