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SNL & Equal Time Rule

T

TheBigA

Last night, Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance on NBC's Saturday Night Live. Her appearance attracted the attention of FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, who said the appearance triggered the FCC's Equal Time Rule.

nypost.com

FCC Commissioner blasts Harris’ SNL appearance as ‘clear and blatant effort’ to evade Equal Time rule

The senior Republican commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission blasted Vice President Kamala Harris’ “Saturday Night Live” debut as a “clear and blatant effort” to evade the Equal Time…
nypost.com nypost.com


“The purpose of the rule is to avoid exactly this type of biased and partisan conduct – a licensed broadcaster using the public airwaves to exert its influence for one candidate on the eve of an election. Unless the broadcaster offered Equal Time to other qualifying campaigns,” Carr, a Trump appointee, continued.
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But did it really? This same thing happened in 2015 during the primaries when Donald Trump hosted the show. Claims were made that he was getting more favorable treatment than the other candidates.

money.cnn.com

Donald Trump's 'SNL' stint could put FCC's 'equal-time' rule in play

Rivals of the GOP frontrunner, Donald Trump, could put the rule into play following his "SNL" hosting stint on November 7.
money.cnn.com

www.yahoo.com

How Donald Trump Proves the Equal Time Rule Is a Joke

“Every single media outlet covered his entire news conference on Tuesday night live and did not even mention the fact that Ted Cruz edged out John Kasich for second place in Michigan and won Idaho,” c...
www.yahoo.com www.yahoo.com

Trump's hosting was filed with the Federal Communications Commission in regards to the equal-time rule. Although no candidate has ever requested an appearance on Saturday Night Live due to equal-time, concerns were raised over whether SNL qualified for an exception to the rule as a live entertainment program.
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To me, the issue would be what actually happened. Was the candidate interviewed? Did the candidate use the time to campaign? Or did she just appear and read prepared script that was part of a skit? If so, both candidates are portrayed in skits equally every week.

Then the other question is if an FCC Commissioner volunteers his opinion prior to the issue coming before them, doesn't that prove he is biased and should have to recuse? It's not up to an FCC Commissioner to volunteer his opinion. It's up to the candidate, as the injured party, to file a complaint. We don't know if offers had been made to Trump prior to this. Carr doesn't know the context, and he doesn't know if the show made an offer to the opposing campaign in accordance with the rules. Carr is the same commissioner who recently gave false and misleading testimony to a house committee on the recent bankruptcy application by Audacy.

My take is that since this has come up before, the producers of the show know the rules. I expect they will present the full story on Monday.
 
Lorne Michaels has been doing SNL and involved in American TV for more than 50 years, I think he and the lawyers at NBC will defend themselves well.
 
What is SNL & NBC to do is Donald Trump refuses to appear on the network too?? Tell Kamala Harris she can't asppear either??

Screw the Commish

If Trump wants equal time, he knows what to do

He just wants to dictate what the producers & network do & how they treart him. Good for them for not playing PATSY to Trump
 
JeeperOne said:
What is SNL & NBC to do is Donald Trump refuses to appear on the network too?? Tell Kamala Harris she can't asppear either??
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This is what happened with 60 Minutes. Both candidates were offered time on the show. Only one appeared. Then the one who didn't appear sued CBS for $10 billion claimed the interview was "deceptively edited."

www.cbsnews.com

Trump sues CBS News over 60 Minutes interview with Harris; network says suit is "completely without merit"

Former President Donald Trump has sued CBS News over a recent 60 Minutes interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. The network says it intends to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.
www.cbsnews.com www.cbsnews.com

This is what he does. In 2019, he wanted the DOJ to investigate SNL because he didn't like the way he was portrayed:

www.businessinsider.com

Trump asked whether the DOJ and the FCC could investigate 'SNL' after it mocked him, report says

Trump said in 2019 that he wanted officials to investigate "SNL" and late-night shows. The Daily Beast reports that he actually tried to take action.
www.businessinsider.com www.businessinsider.com
 
JeeperOne said:
What is SNL & NBC to do is Donald Trump refuses to appear on the network too?? Tell Kamala Harris she can't asppear either??

Screw the Commish

If Trump wants equal time, he knows what to do

He just wants to dictate what the producers & network do & how they treart him. Good for them for not playing PATSY to Trump
Click to expand...
Having been advised by costly and experienced lawyers for decades, the burden falls on the candidate to make use of equal time. If they chose not to but the "opposition" does, and as long as comparable times and accommodations are made, a station is covered.

Yet this is about SNL and NBC... a show and its network. Not a station.

The FCC does not regulate SNL or NBC. They regulate over the air broadcast stations, not networks.

Of course, candidates know this. But they seize the opportunity to create a "news event" by threatening to have the network fined, closed, sued or otherwise castigated. It is all hot air.
 
TheBigA said:
The problem here is that it's not a candidate, but rather a commissioner of the FCC. Nobody asked his opinion. He has offered it in a prejudicious way.
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Same thing: partisan politics.

While the Commissioner made the remark, the GOP jumped on it as a campaign opportunity. What we will never know is whether the Commissioner was willingly "set up" to create a news event. "Hey, you wanna help the campaign="
 
DavidEduardo said:
While the Commissioner made the remark, the GOP jumped on it as a campaign opportunity. What we will never know is whether the Commissioner was willingly "set up" to create a news event. "Hey, you wanna help the campaign="
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I suspect it's more likely he was told, "Hey, want to keep your job after we get in?"
 
TheBigA said:
...Meanwhile, some Trump supporters notice a similarity between last night's skit and one Trump did with Jimmy Fallon:

www.yahoo.com

Trump fans furious after noticing Kamala Harris’s SNL skit is identical to a 2015 Jimmy Fallon sketch

Trump performed a mirror skit with Fallon nine years ago
www.yahoo.com www.yahoo.com
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What a bunch of whining babies. This is what's so wearying about this whole MAGA movement (and its putative leaders). They act like a bunch of pre-schoolers who haven't yet (or ever) learned that whining about everything isn't the way to get your way.
 
radiofan2023 said:
Lorne Michaels has been doing SNL and involved in American TV for more than 50 years, I think he and the lawyers at NBC will defend themselves well.
Click to expand...
Lorne Michaels is known as a strick rule and law follower. Even in the 70s there was never any abuse of law or rules at NBC. Thank God for that. Some stars of other shows were known to sample cocaine and other drugs during that time. As far as the equal time rules during Donald Trump's appearance, every second he was on was timed and his opponent had the opportunity for equal minutes. I would assume that if pressed Trump would probably be allowed the same amount of time that the opening skit took.
 
Hyrum said:
Lorne Michaels is known as a strick rule and law follower. Even in the 70s there was never any abuse of law or rules at NBC. Thank God for that. Some stars of other shows were known to sample cocaine and other drugs during that time.
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Might I suggest you Google the name John Belushi?
Hyrum said:
As far as the equal time rules during Donald Trump's appearance, every second he was on was timed and his opponent had the opportunity for equal minutes. I would assume that if pressed Trump would probably be allowed the same amount of time that the opening skit took.
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I wouldn't be at all surprised if Lorne had invited Trump to participate in one of their cold opens, and Trump (himself) or his campaign (representing him) told SNL or NBC to go f*** themselves. And Lorne or his lawyers dutifully documented that exchange, so that when the inevitable whining started that could be thrown back in their faces.
 
I find it hard to believe that SNL didn’t offer Trump an appearance. I would think that the NBC lawyers would have insisted upon it. Assuming that’s the case, any Trump rejection of their offer would have meant that NBC fulfilled its legal obligations and it was an all-clear for Harris to appear.

An interesting thought experiment would be to consider a situation where a major network has no O&O stations. Legally, the FCC would have no direct leverage over such a network. That network, of course, would have to consider the effects on its affiliated stations, but that’s not quite the same thing. The four major networks all still have O&Os, but in the future….?
 
I seem to recall that Donald Trump had a TV show on NBC for many years. It's safe to assume he has some relationship with the network brass. The complaint coming from this Carr fellow rings as hollow as all of the election fraud lawsuits...
 
Mark Roberts said:
I find it hard to believe that SNL didn’t offer Trump an appearance. I would think that the NBC lawyers would have insisted upon it. Assuming that’s the case, any Trump rejection of their offer would have meant that NBC fulfilled its legal obligations and it was an all-clear for Harris to appear.
Click to expand...
None of us know what may or may not have been done behind the scenes. Yet I do think that NBC would have made an immediate statement if an offer had been made to Trump. I'm guessing, and yes guessing, that this was a last minute thing put in to effect when someone found Harris available and willing, and they did it without a lot of thought. Assuming that is the case, it all goes away with an offer for Trump to make a statement on one of their programs for the same amount of time. If that's the case the lawyers will make the offer and Trump will accept or decline and it's no longer an issue.
 
Hyrum said:
None of us know what may or may not have been done behind the scenes. Yet I do think that NBC would have made an immediate statement if an offer had been made to Trump. I'm guessing, and yes guessing, that this was a last minute thing put in to effect when someone found Harris available and willing, and they did it without a lot of thought. Assuming that is the case, it all goes away with an offer for Trump to make a statement on one of their programs for the same amount of time. If that's the case the lawyers will make the offer and Trump will accept or decline and it's no longer an issue.
Click to expand...

Right, but logic and history can give you a pretty good idea of what is likely to have occurred.
 
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