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UPDATED with Trump and NBC comment: Following FCC concerns over Kamala Harris‘ last-minute Saturday Night Live appearance, NBC has given Donald Trump 90 seconds of free ad time.
On Sunday, the network aired a clip of Trump addressing voters during its coverage of the NASCAR Playoffs race and the NFL game, after Harris’ SNL cold open cameo may have violated the FCC’s Equal Time Rule ahead of Election Day on Tuesday.
“NBC and Comcast reached out yesterday to give our campaign the opportunity to satisfy the equal time requirement,” a Trump campaign official said. “President Trump filmed the direct-to-camera video after yesterday’s PA rally.”
An NBC official said the network “accommodated the Trump campaign’s request for equal time consistent with our regulatory obligations.”
Trump-appointed FCC commissioner Brendan Carr previously accused SNL of a “clear and blatant effort” to evade the Equal Time Rule, which requires broadcasters to provide rival candidates comparable time — news programming is exempt. The rule is often confused with the Fairness Doctrine, which was abandoned in the 1980s, requiring stations to present different points of view.
Noting that Harris’ SNL cameo came just three days before the presidential election, Carr posted on X, “What comparable time and placement can they offer all other qualifying candidates?”
Reed Hundt, a former FCC chairman, wrote on X that Carr is “wrong” that SNL was engaged in an effort to evade the rule. “He’s clearly and blatantly trying to help the Trump campaign. That’s also wrong,” Hundt wrote.
NBC affiliates including those in New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., have since filed notice that Harris “appeared without charge” on SNL for one minute, 30 seconds on Saturday. A network source said they would comply with all regulatory obligations.
The FCC rules do not require that a network seek out opposing campaigns to offer the time. The rival candidates have to request it.
Stations do not have to give opposing candidates identical time, just comparable time. After Trump hosted SNL in 2015, some of his GOP primary rivals were given airtime not on the show, but in a similar time period on stations with upcoming primaries.
It’s also not unprecedented for SNL to feature a presidential nominee so close to an election. John McCain made a cameo on the NBC sketch comedy show the weekend before the 2008 campaign.
