NBC files Equal Time notice with the FCC late Sunday after fallout over Kamala’s SNL gift

NBC is scrambling to address the fallout after the network inserted itself into the election by featuring Kamala Harris in a skit on its late-night flagship “Saturday Night Live,” a likely violation of FCC rules.

Days before voters across America head to the polls, the nationally televised Trump-hating propaganda showcase opened with the Democrat nominee and cast member Maya Rudolph – who plays her on the show – as her reflection in a mirror as they dumped on Trump to the delight of the live audience.

Not only was it a cringeworthy copying of a similar SNL skit from 2016 with Trump before he was demonized, but also against the Equal Time rule which was pointed out by Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the five-member commission who warned of NBC’s potential rules violation before the show aired.

Faced with a growing backlash over what some have described as election interference, the network filed an Equal Time notice with the FCC late Sunday which would normally grant equal airtime to other qualified candidates.

“Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for president in the 2024 national election, appeared without charge on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) for a total period of 1 minute and 30 seconds on November 2, 2024,” the filing reads.

“Under normal circumstances, the filing would allow all other qualified candidates competing against Harris to seek equal airtime from NBC for up to a week. NBC would be required to grant it under federal law,” according to Fox News.

“This has all the appearances of, at least some leadership at NBC, at SNL, making clear that they wanted to weigh-in in favor of one candidate before the election. That’s exactly why, for decades, we’ve had an equal time rule on the book, is to prevent that. Because remember, broadcasters are placed in a special position of trust. They’re not just like any other person with a soapbox on the corner. They have a license from the federal government that obligates them to operate in the public interest,”  Carr told Fox News Digital on Sunday morning.

The commissioner later told the outlet that the filing confirms NBC “views the Harris SNL appearance as a free use of their facilities and airwaves within the meaning of the federal Equal Time rule.”

Under normal conditions, “it would usually open up a seven-day period when all other qualified candidates can seek Equal Time from NBC – meaning comparable time on a comparable program. Here, opposing candidates don’t have seven days,” Carr added, noting the limited time remaining before the election.

Trump did get airtime on the network with an ad that ran on Sunday near the end of NBC’s broadcast of NASCAR’s Xfinity 500 and before the nationally televised Sunday Night Football game between the Minnesota Vikings and Indianapolis Colts.

In the one-minute spot, Trump is shown wearing a red “Make America Great Again” ballcap and warning of what’s at stake on Tuesday and that the consequences of electing Harris would be catastrophic, especially for the economy.

“We’re losing everything, including viability,” Trump said. “We’re going to end up in a depression based on what’s been happening. We’ve never seen anything like it, at least in the last 40 years.”

It’s unclear whether the ad was related to the FCC fiasco although some on social media have suggested that’s the case.

Even if NBC gave Trump airtime for the commercial there is no program left on the pre-election schedule that would possibly draw the same national audience that SNL did for what was essentially a campaign ad for Harris.

Chris Donaldson

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