SNL/VP Harris Update: NBC Reportedly Gives Trump NASCAR Ad Time

Posted in: NBC, Peacock, TV | Tagged: kamala harris, saturday night live, snl, trump

SNL/VP Kamala Harris Update: NBC Reportedly Gives Trump NASCAR Time

NBC reportedly gave Donald Trump some ad time at the end of today's NASCAR coverage as "equal time" for VP Kamala Harris appearing on SNL.

Published Sun, 03 Nov 2024 20:58:08 -0600
by Ray Flook
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It's the guest appearance that has everyone talking – and what Donald Trump and his appointed Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner )and Project 2025 contributor), Brendan Carr, have been fuming about. Of course, we're talking about VP Kamala Harris's appearance during the cold open to this weekend's edition of NBC's Saturday Night Live – which Carr claimed was in violation of the FCC's "equal time" rule that requires television and radio stations to offer political candidates equal air time. Since that time, we learned from the FCC that the commission hasn't yet weighed in officially on the matter – sharing with The Hollywood Reporter that it has "not made any determination regarding political programming rules, nor have we received a complaint from any interested parties."

As far as SNL goes, the long-running late-night sketch comedy and music series officially notified the FCC that VP Harris appeared "without charge" for "a total period of 1 minute and 30 seconds on November 2, 2024." Why is that important? Because with that notification making VP Harris's appearance official, other campaigns would be able to request time – but to be clear, it would have to be comparable but not identical to what VP Harris received – 90 seconds of screen time.

Well, it appears that Trump got some of those 90 seconds earlier today when an ad for Trump appeared at the end of NBC's broadcast of the NASCAR 2024 Cup playoff race at Martinsville Speedway that saw the ex-reality show host, multi-impeached ex-POTUS, and convicted felon speaking directly to viewers who hadn't changed the channel by then. A source speaking with The Hollywood Reporter noted that the spot was connected with NBC looking to give Trump equal time on the network, though it isn't clear how much of his 90 seconds Trump has left – or if other campaigns have requested time.

Having the very real VP Harris joining Maya Rudolph's "VP Kamala Harris" was an excellent move for both SNL and the Democratic candidate – but also a surprising one. EP Lorne Michaels shared back in October during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter why he didn't see either VP Harris or Trump appearing before election day on November 5th. "You can't bring the actual people who are running on because of election laws and the equal time provisions," Michaels explained, adding, "You can't have the main candidates without having all the candidates, and there are lots of minor candidates that are only on the ballot in, like, three states and that becomes really complicated."

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