NBC agrees to equal time for four GOP candidates
NBCUniversal has agreed to give four GOP candidates equal time after Donald Trump hosted "Saturday Night Live" earlier this month.
The network came to an agreement with John Kasich, Lindsey Graham, Mike Huckabee and James Gilmore on each of their requests, an NBC spokesperson said in a statement Monday to CBS News' David Goodman.
The NBC spokesperson said the time will be allocated on 18 NBC affiliate stations in the key early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina during primetime hours this Friday and Saturday and during "Saturday Night Live" that night.
NBC filed a notice about Trump's "SNL" appearance on Nov. 10, allowing his rivals to request equal coverage time. Trump hosted the show for the first time since 2004 and appeared for 12 minutes and 5 seconds.
Even with the allotted time, the candidates that will receive the equal time aren't doing too well in some of the early voting states. A CBS News Battleground Tracker poll released Sunday found Kasich and Huckabee each received 1 percent support in Iowa among GOP voters while Gilmore and Graham registered with 0 percent support.
In New Hampshire, 8 percent of GOP voters said they back Kasich, 1 percent said they support Huckabee, 1 percent said they support Graham and 0 percent said they support Gilmore.
And in South Carolina, 3 percent of GOP voters said they their senator, Graham, 2 percent said they back Kasich, 2 percent said they support Huckabee and Gilmore registered at 0 percent.