Donald Trump: Is He Hurting NBC?

We generally try and avoid politics here at Remote Patrolled but with all the press coverage Donald Trump’s been attracting recently the worlds of entertainment and politics seem to have come together as one!

By now you of course know the full story. Celebrity Apprentice bigwig Donald Trump is considering a Presidential run in 2012 and has been talking a big game over the last few weeks – attacking President Obama and forcing him into revealing his birth certificate. Of course now that the certificate is out Trump STILL isn’t happy and is questioning Obama’s college grades and taking more potshots at the President.

It’s a juicy story for the press and they’ve certainly obliged The Donald with plenty of coverage. Meanwhile several Hollywood celebrities – notably Whoopi Goldberg, Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Cosby and Cher – have all weighed in and attacked Trump. Meanwhile let’s not forget Donald still hasn’t officially announced he’s running for president – and says he won’t and can’t make any announcement until the current season of Celebrity Apprentice finishes in a few weeks time.

But in amongst all the media coverage one aspect of the story has been largely overlooked – what Trump’s politicking is doing to ‘his’ network, NBC. Is a loose cannon like Trump good for the channel? Sure you can argue all press is good press but in this case I’m not so sure.

Okay, in the short term Donald’s comments are helping the Celebrity Apprentice’s ratings – the show though initially down at the start of the season has rebounded over the last few weeks. But what happens next.

Scenario one is that the season finishes and Trump does indeed announce he’s going to make a Presidential run. In that case the show is pretty much over as Donald can’t continue to host and judge the show while campaigning – both for reasons of time, image and journalistic integrity (remember even Fox News, that bastion of standards forced Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich out when they became serious candidates). Celebrity Apprentice likely can’t continue with another boss – remember the ill-fated Martha Stewart edition – so NBC would probably fold the show.

Just one problem – Celebrity Apprentice is one of the network’s three highest rated shows – alongside the still strong America’s Got Talent and the fading fast Biggest Loser. Even though The Voice is looking promising it’s still early days. Losing Celebrity Apprentice would be a big hit for the network.

But then there’s scenario two – Trump reveals that all his talk was just bluster and he’s decided NOT to run. Hmm, that option doesn’t look much better for NBC either.

Here’s the problem, there are many people out there – myself included – who think Donald’s comments have been pretty darn disrespectful to our President and even border on outright racism (and trust me, I’ve had some issues with Obama in the past). I personally wouldn’t watch the Celebrity Apprentice again – and I have a feeling many other people might feel the same. I also think the show’s guest bookers are going to have a tough time casting future seasons – we all know celebrities tend to be liberal – who’s going to go on Trump’s show now? Ann Coulter and Chuck Norris.

Then there’s the bigger issue for NBC. By allowing Trump to continue on air are they in fact condoning his behavior? Remember Fox News (again) actually let Glenn Beck go as he was proving too toxic to advertisers. If Trump continues the way he’s going – and let’s be honest he’s unlikely to back down – how long until NBC faces an advertising boycott. That’s the last thing the lowly rated network needs at the moment.

So as far as I can tell Donald Trump’s campaigning may seem good for him – but I can only see bad news for his network…

But what do you think? Have NBC handled the situation in the right way? Is there in fact much they could have done? And do you think Celebrity Apprentice will be back… start weighing in everyone!