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May 16, 2026 — FOX 5 DC’s ever-cheeky segment “Do You Like It Or Not” is getting a major twist. The October 13, 2026 episode won’t just ask Washingtonians what they think — it will hand them the mic.
If you’ve lived in the D.C. area long enough, odds are you’ve heard the name before. “Do You Like It Or Not” is the local TV staple that turns simple yes-or-no questions into something you end up debating over dinner. Whether the topic is a new restaurant, a Metro habit, or the region’s never-ending love-hate relationship with humidity, the concept is simple: you either like it, or you don’t.
The new twist, unveiled in a teaser that FOX 5 DC put out ahead of the fall schedule, is embedded in one line: “everything you love about the original, with some fresh, new voices — YOURS!” That’s the whole pitch, and it’s enough to tell you the format is going in a different direction. The station wants viewers to be part of the segment, not just part of the audience.
What that looks like in practice is yet to be fully explained. FOX 5 DC has not released anything close to a full rundown of the October 13 show, but the larger goal is hard to miss. Local TV has been drifting toward interactive programming for years, and this segment is joining that wave. Instead of hopping from one area to another with a camera and a list of questions, producers seem to be building the segment around reactions that come directly from the people watching.
That kind of shift makes sense for FOX 5. In Washington, opinions are the equivalent of a native language. The District is full of people who are used to forming positions, defending them, changing them, and then deconstructing someone else’s. Turning “Do You Like It Or Not” into a viewer-first segment is almost too natural a fit.
Perhaps the most obvious change is how the audience will participate. The public doesn’t need to be on a street corner anymore to have a say. If the teaser means anything, social media will play a leading role. FOX 5 DC’s Instagram and X accounts already post questions tied to D.C. life, and the October 13 episode could easily pull from comments, video responses, and group reactions sent in by viewers. The station hasn’t confirmed the exact submission process yet, but that hasn’t stopped people from guessing.
There’s real precedent for this making sense. The Radio Television Digital News Association has tracked for years how local television remains one of the last places on the dial where people actually feel connected to the news. Unlike cable pundits who talk at you, local anchors and producers have to stay in touch with neighborhoods, transit routes, school systems, and city council decisions. Adding viewer voices to “Do You Like It Or Not” fits right inside that tradition.
It also gives the segment something that national shows rarely have: a hyper-local identity. A person in Seattle may have a strong opinion about I-5 traffic, but that won’t mean much to a D.C. viewer who has their own things to say about I-295. Whatever topic lands in the October 13 episode, the point of view will be distinctly Washington. That, more than the guest list, is the real news.
The October 13 timing is worth noting, too. Mid-October is that sweet spot after the summer doldrums and before the holiday programming push. It’s when local stations like to launch fresher ideas, especially if they want to test a new format during a period when audiences are still settling into their fall routines. A high-profile viewer-participation episode could give FOX 5 DC something to build on afterward.
None of this is without risk, of course. Opening the microphone to the audience means letting go of control. When the public speaks, the answer might be profane, off-topic, or painfully awkward. That’s not a new problem — local news organizations have been managing live call-ins and viewer email since the 1980s. But for a polished segment that has built its brand on tightly edited hits, the new format is a bit of a gamble.
Still, gambling on your own audience is usually a stronger move than ignoring them. The Pew Research Center has found that trust in local news outlets tends to run higher than trust in national media, and viewers are far more likely to engage when they see themselves. By making regular people the featured voices, FOX 5 DC is leaning into the one advantage it has over every streaming service pretending to be local: actual community.
For viewers who want a shot at being heard on the October 13 show, the smart money says the clock is already ticking. Following FOX 5 DC’s social channels is the obvious first step. The station tends to promote upcoming segments, talk-show segments, and call-out questions through those platforms, and a production team looking for viewer input will almost certainly drop a prompt there before filming.
The other obvious step is to start practicing your hot take. If “Do You Like It Or Not” really is about you, the audience, then the producers don’t want a rehearsed political speech. They want the thing you say when you’re standing in a line, stuck in traffic, or biting into a bowl of chili and suddenly feel the urge to declare it either the best or worst thing in the world. That’s the energy of the original show, and it appears to be the energy of what comes next.
It helps that FOX 5 DC has a built-in advantage in winning that kind of contribution. Washingtonians are already used to expressing opinions. Half the city works in communication, politics, law, or advocacy, and the other half has to listen to the first half during happy hour. The question was never whether D.C. has enough opinions; it was whether the segment could fit more than three of them into a short block.
The October 13, 2026 episode is still a few months away, which means there is plenty of time for the station to add more details. The teaser doesn’t mention a host, a topic list, or a submission deadline. It doesn’t need to. The promise of the show has been reduced to a single phrase: your voice. From a marketing standpoint, that’s elegant. From a local news standpoint, it’s a reminder that the best interviews aren’t always with politicians and celebrities.
If you have a strong opinion about something in the D.C. area — and if you live here, you almost certainly do — “Do You Like It Or Not” may be looking for you next. The original format asked people to answer fast. The new format wants to make those voices part of the program. That is a subtle shift, but in local television, subtle shifts are often the ones that stick around.
So, do you like the sound of that, or not? By October 13, 2026, viewers will get their answer — and a lot of them will be part of the show that delivers it.
