Wednesday, October 14, 2020

NBC's craven decision to compete with Biden's townhall broadcast

US network NBC is (quite rightly) taking some heat for scheduling a townhall interview with Donald Trump at exactly the same time as competitor ABC is airing an already-arranged  townhall with Joe Biden.

They could have chosen literally any other time or day, but no, it had to be at the same time, a decision that just reeks of Trumpian (read, Machiavellian) machinations. I assume that some money changed (or will change) hands. Both townhalls will be available digitally after the events, but without the extemporaneous impact of the live events.

Certainly, Trump, who refused to participate in a head-to-head tele-conferenced debate in place of the cancelled second televized debate, has got what he wants from NBC: a ratings war. As everyone knows, Trump lives for ratings, which he sees as the only metric of any value, and a more reliable guide to his populariry than any number of opinion polls, which are, as we all know, fake news.

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