Group Behind CBS Complaint Files Against NBC Over Harris on 'SNL'

The group behind recent FCC complaints against CBS and ABC over their news coverage filed an equal time complaint against NBC and its station WNBC New York Monday over Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ weekend appearance on Saturday Night Live (see 2411040057). The complaint from the Center for American Rights echoes points first raised by FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and calls for “a substantial fine” against NBC. “Broadcasters cannot abuse their licenses by airing what amounts to a free commercial promoting one candidate the weekend before the presidential election,” said CAR President Daniel Suhr in a news release. FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington backed the complaint Monday, saying “I urge Commission leadership to take these credible allegations seriously,” but multiple broadcast attorneys told us NBC appears to have satisfied the FCC’s rules.

The CAR complaint argues that the two 60-second ads during NASCAR and a Sunday Night Football post-game show that NBC gave to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to satisfy the equal time obligation “do not convey the same sense of cultural resonance and endorsement” as Harris’ SNL appearance. “A free ad for Trump is not remotely comparable to an implied endorsement by a top-rated, culturally influential show like SNL,” the complaint said. However, equal opportunity rules don’t require identical appearances, just that the time and audiences are comparable, broadcast attorneys told us. Last NFL season, NBC said Sunday Night Football was prime time’s "#1 TV show in all key metrics" for the 13th year in a row. NBC didn’t comment Tuesday. Trump, who has been vocal over perceived slights from networks, has not posted comments against NBC about the ad time swap.

The CAR complaint also notes the appearance of Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., on SNL the same night, and argues that NBC hasn’t satisfied its obligations because Hung Cao, Kaine’s Republican opponent, hadn’t received time. However, the Cao campaign confirmed Tuesday that it reached an agreement with NBC for two ads in key time slots Monday night. Cao likely wouldn’t have gotten the ad time he was entitled to without “watchdogs” such as Carr “highlighting the Equal Time issue,” said Digital First Project Executive Director Nathan Leamer.

Issues the complaint raises about Kaine's appearance may not be valid because it targets NBC’s owned and operated station WNBC New York, attorneys told us. Cao and Kaine are candidates in a Senate race in Virginia, so they don’t count as legally qualified candidates eligible for equal time on WNBC, said broadcast attorney Jack Goodman. CAR would need to file a complaint against a station with Virginia voters in its broadcast area, he said.

Several broadcast attorneys told us the complaint also likely suffers from standing issues. CAR isn’t a legally qualified candidate that didn’t receive air time, and so doesn’t have standing to bring the complaint, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society Senior Counselor Andrew Schwartzman wrote in an email. Added broadcast attorney Dawn Sciarrino, “The complaint is baseless” because it isn’t from an affected candidate.

The Center for American Rights, now on its third complaint against a broadcast network, describes itself as “a non-profit, non-partisan public interest” law firm “focused on free speech violations, government overreach and abuse of power, educational opportunity, and protecting constitutional rights.” Along with its FCC complaints, CAR has filed a Federal Election Commission complaint against The Washington Post over paid Harris ads, and is representing thoroughbred horse trainers in a challenge of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act.

CAR Chairman Pat Hughes was previously president of another public interest law firm, the Liberty Justice Center, which has been involved in several cases related to conservative causes, such as defending workers fired for anti-transgender views. Liberty Justice Center and Hughes also victoriously represented the plaintiff in the U.S. Supreme Court case Janus v. American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, which bars non-union government workers from being required to pay union fees as a work condition. Suhr, CAR’s president, was a senior adviser to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) and worked for The Federalist Society.

While the current CAR complaint targets an entertainment show, previous filings against CBS and ABC focused on their news operations. In an opinion essay in The Hill Tuesday, NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt denounced efforts to silence broadcasters. “Even as we serve our communities, broadcasters increasingly face threats to their ability to do their jobs -- either physically through verbal intimidation and violence directed towards our journalists, or politically through threats of broadcast license or spectrum revocations and harassing lawsuits.” These pressures “to limit or even revoke the rights of newsrooms to operate without interference pose a serious threat to our ability to fulfill this civic responsibility,” LeGeyt wrote.

Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, believes “NBC’s decision to use the public airwaves to give Kamala Harris a boost just days before the election is yet another example of the left-wing media’s bias against conservatives,” a panel spokesperson emailed us. “This is, in fact, a challenge to the FCC to see whether we're serious about broadcast regulation issues that were thought to be non-controversial,” said Simington Sunday in an interview with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon.