ABC, NBC, CNN do not air Trump's election-security speech live on primary channels

NEW YORK, July 16 (Reuters) - Two of the three major U.S. television networks and CNN did not broadcast a prime-time address on Thursday by President Donald Trump on their primary platforms, risking the ire of an administration that has placed unprecedented pressure on American media. The speech focused on election security, four months before the critical midterm elections. During his speech, Trump said that networks that did not air his speech were engaged in a "plot" and should have their licenses revoked. Networks have broad First Amendment rights to decide what they choose to broadcast, experts say. But historically, broadcasters have carried most such speeches on the grounds that they provide information of public importance. Trump has spent years sowing doubts about electoral outcomes, falsely claiming his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden was rigged. He has also claimed without evidence that mail-in voting is rife with fraud, voting machines are vulnerable to manipulation and non-citizen voting is widespread. Some Democrats, including U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, have urged networks not to air the speech, arguing Trump is likely to repeat debunked claims. A spokesperson for the third major U.S. network, CBS, did not respond to Reuters questions about whether it planned to carry the address live. Fox News FOXA.O also did not respond to a request for comment. At CBS, the takeover of Paramount PSKY.O by David Ellison, whose billionaire father Larry Ellison is a Trump ally, has roiled the newsroom and prompted the departure of senior staff from the news magazine "60 Minutes". Some employees have alleged political interference in editorial decisions, which the network has denied. Ellison is now awaiting FCC approval for Paramount's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, which could give him control of CNN, a network Trump has long criticized for what he says is unfair coverage. The U.S. Justice Department's Antitrust Division approved the deal last month. The speech comes at a sensitive moment for U.S. media. Walt Disney-owned ABC DIS.N is facing two pending inquiries from the Federal Communications Commission, including one examining whether its daytime talk show "The View" violated equal-time rules by interviewing a Democratic Senate candidate in Texas. The FCC could move as early as next month to begin the process of withdrawing the licenses for Disney's eight company-owned ABC stations. Trump has repeatedly attacked NBC and its parent company, Comcast CMCSA.O, which he has dubbed "Concast." Last month he stormed out of an interview with NBC political reporter Kristen Welker after calling the network "a one-sided crooked network." Comcast last month announced plans to split into two publicly traded companies through a spinoff of NBCUniversal and Sky. Analysts have said the move could make NBCUniversal an attractive takeover target. FCC Chair Brendan Carr is also investigating Comcast and its NBC unit over its diversity practices, which Carr said was the basis for the decision to speed up the reviews of Disney's ABC stations. The conservative-leaning cable news network Fox News, owned by Rupert Murdoch, generally carries all of Trump's speeches but may also be wary of this one. In 2023, the network had to pay out $787 million to settle a defamation suit over its airing of false claims about the 2020 election. On Wednesday, Carr said in an interview with NewsNation that he thought the broadcast networks should air Trump's remarks. "This is something that the American people have every right to be able to get over the airwaves," Carr said. Carr did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. Late on Thursday afternoon, a spokesperson for ABC News said the network would run Trump’s speech on its ABC News Live streaming platform and ABC News Radio – not its broadcast channel. NBC News was planning to carry the president's remarks on its free streaming service, NBC News NOW, but not to air the speech on its main broadcast channel, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company declined to comment. In a statement, CNN said it would monitor the speech for news, with a live feed appearing on its website and CNN All Access, its subscription streaming channel. The ABC and NBC streaming channels generally draw a fraction of the viewers that their traditional broadcast signals reach. CNN's digital network is a paid-for service with a smaller audience than its regular cable channel. In the speech, Trump declassified intelligence that he said showed Chinese interference in U.S. elections, reviving his long-running attacks on election security despite a U.S. intelligence assessment that found no evidence Beijing altered the 2020 vote which he lost. Before the speech, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told a press briefing it was "very possible" that Trump would also mention the situation with Iran and the economy at the top of the speech, and could possibly address a range of topics. She said that is “all the more reason” for the networks to carry the speech live, and for Americans to tune in. Trump briefly mentioned the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, which he said the U.S. is winning, and said the U.S. economy was in its best shape ever but focused on his election-security allegations.

ABC, NBC, CNN do not air Trump's election-security speech live on primary channels

Networks skip live broadcast on main channels

Pressure builds on media companies and broadcasters

ABC, NBC and CNN choose streaming or digital distribution

Trump attacks election-security claims during the address

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ABC, NBC, CNN do not air Trump's election-security speech live on primary channels