During a 72 hour period that started on Saturday evening, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton made four appearances on NBC and NBC-related properties.
The Democratic front-runner appeared during “Saturday Night Live,” “Politics Nation with Al Sharpton”, the “Today Show” and an interview on the Spanish-language channel Telemundo.
Additionally, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” provided a simulcast of Clinton’s appearance on the “Today Show”.
Needless to say, that is a very large amount of quality air-time in a short period of time.
Both Clinton and NBC representatives claim that the string of appearances was a mere coincidence, and that there was no intentional coordination by the network. They say that a variety of different factors led to this outcome.
However, media analysts are finding this difficult to believe.
Longtime representative of ABC and CNN Mark Feldstein says, “These things are carefully orchestrated by both networks and campaigns it’s this intricate dance. Each tries to get best deal it can for itself and nothing is left to chance.”
Some reports indicate that executives of MSNBC put heavy pressure on “Morning Joe” to simulcast Clinton’s appearance on the “Today Show”. However, MSNBC representatives have denied this.
According to representatives from NBC, Clinton’s run of appearances can be explained by several factors.
The presidential candidate was in Miami to start working to win over Latinos, making an appearance with popular singer Marc Anthony. Hence, an interview on Telemundo made sense.
The appearance on Saturday Night Live can be explained by the fact that Clinton’s campaign headquarters are located in New York City, the same place that that the show is taped. Since the show wanted a big name guest for its season premiere, Clinton was an ideal candidate.
It’s no surprise that Clinton agreed to participate on SNL, given the fact that she has said that she wants to appear as “more personable” to voters. SNL actress Kate McKinnon is also a strong supporter of Clinton, and she likely lobbied for an appearance from the Democratic candidate.
The appearance on the “Today Show”, which took place in New Hampshire, had been planned months in advance.
While everyone involved is insisting that the string of appearances was just a total fluke, it is interesting to note that Clinton reached four radically different target audiences in the four appearances. It’s hard not to imagine that this wasn’t a coordinated effort by Clinton.
Feldstein explains, “(Networks) always have to be concerned, every network does, with over saturation on any one topic and across all their platforms. On the other hand, sometimes saturation drives the ratings up. Donald Trump has certainly been doing that for months. (Clinton) will choose places that are friendly places that have reach, places that have the most exposure and that’s the name of the game when you’re campaigning. If CBS could offer more venues, or ABC, they’d go with that.”
While it probably will never be revealed if the effort truly was orchestrated, there’s no denying the fact that Clinton has been a regular of NBC lately.
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