Vice President Kamala Harris made an “impromptu” visit to Saturday Night Live this weekend, earning NBC a scolding from the FCC.
Why? Because the law requires news networks to offer equal time to presidential candidates in an election cycle. SNL had originally pledged not to invite either candidate on the show but made a “last-minute decision” to host Vice President Harris. Who really believes this was a “last-minute decision”??
After FCC commissioner Brendan Carr scolded NBC, the network gave President Trump a 90-second ad during Sunday’s NASCAR coverage and NFL game. That probably worked out in his favor. SNL gets 5 million viewers on a good night. The NFL averages 18 million. Still, it’s yet another reason that most people mistrust the media.
Commissioner Carr said this about NBC’s decision: “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.”
NBC News filed an Equal Time notice with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) late Sunday.
