I would like to remind people that Trump is 70yrs old and really is mostly concerned with keeping the cash-flow machine running until he dies. He is no more concerned with the 20+ year success of Trump TV than he is anything else - he’s going to get his cash out of it and fuck what happens to it when he dies.
You buy ads to improve your branding and to transfer as much of your donors cash to your pockets as possible. I fully expect the spending on Breitbart properties to skyrocket to “irrational” amounts… but amounts that are only irrational if you’re looking at it in the context of winning a presidential election.
By November 8th, you’re going to end up with three hundred million dollars just given to you by your future audience. You can’t transfer it to yourself. So what are you going to do with it? Why, you’re going to use it to improve your branding. And spend it so as much of that can flow back into your pockets as possible.
Breitbart allows Trump to do both. Suppose he buys 60 million dollars worth of ads and then, after November 8th, receives a fifty-million-dollar signing bonus. Where do you think that 50 million came from?
So that’s why you spend the money! 
It would be nothing short of horrifying. It would in essence take the Alt-Right of Breitbart, which has been mostly confined to the world of the online, and potentially expand it into mainstream consciousness. The sensationalism of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries fueled anti-black and anti-immigrant racism, which often culminated in mass unrest and violence.
Yes, the dropping polls have hit his fragile psyche like a nuclear bomb. I agree it’s possible that he is using ‘hey, if I lose on November 8, I’ll still be a winner because I’ll be the new King of Media!’ as an antidote to facing reality.
The problem is, it’s not going to work:
Yes. There are not enough advertising dollars to support two right-wing cable television stations. Fox would have to be overtaken in the ratings by the new Trump station. And the only way that would happen is if the Trump station went beyond being a carbon copy of Fox, to offer something new.
And what Trump has learned is that barely-disguised white supremacism is what sells. Whether it’s a dog-whistle or an open statement (that Mexicans are rapists, for example), promoting hatred of those who fail to be white Christian northern-European-heritage folks is packin’ em in.
And it’s really NOT “nativism.” Trump fans are anti-immigrant only for non-white immigrants. Remember the footage of that young douche who, when asked about the Melania Trump visa issue, said he had no problem with Europeans coming here, because “I’m pretty down with Western civilization”…?
Yeah. It’s not nativism. It’s white supremacy.
So, a new challenger for Fox News would have to offer something Fox does not, and the logical way for that challenger to go is, er, “Western Civilization.” So to speak. Of course cable channels have to pay their way with advertising:
Though there are certainly plenty such businesses and they’d be happy to have the type of audience Trump would deliver, such businesses are not capable of paying enough to support a cable network.
A cable network needs the car companies and the insurance companies and the beverage companies and the stock brokers and the fast food and convenience food companies and GE and Exxon and Walmart–the blue chip companies–to survive. They are able to pay the rates that the “buy gold coins” people, quite simply, cannot.
And those blue chip companies will not be willing to be associated with a Trump News station featuring those wonderful shows for Western Civilization fans, Klan Korner, *Love that Hitler!, *and The Passion of Putin.
So without advertisers able to foot the bills, the only other option would be the premium-cable route, with a monthly fee for the service (a la HBO or the Playboy Channel).
…but even if the channel could get enough people willing to shell out an extra $19.99 per month, they would still have the FCC to contend with. To motivate people to pay each month, the channel would have to provide some pretty juicy white supremacism—and to do that, they’d have to skate quite near the border of what the FCC would find acceptable. Inevitably, they’d go over. And Trump would be assessed large fines
I don’t think it’s workable. And I suspect that the smarter members of Trump’s circle don’t think it can be done, either.
But, yeah: Trump will go on deluding himself, quite possibly. Because the alternative is to face the reality of what he’s made of his life. And that is simply not an option.
I agree. He does think he can win. But he may have the media-plan in mind as a face-saver (as JohnT suggested).
I mostly agree with that you say but I have to nitpick this. The FCC has zero control over cable. It can say and do absolutely nothing. That has always been true. The FCC can only regulate broadcast media, because the airwaves are a limited resource.
OMG! Archie has returned!
You’d think the caps key would be easier to press on a computer keyboard.
toujours gai little johnl, toujours gai.
Well, you fought my ignorance today. So I guess the only thing keeping HBO from broadcasting hate-group meetings is the fear of losing subscribers; hmn.
Don’t expect Trump to be putting his own money into this media empire, though. The media empire is another scam. Trump puts his name on it, and gets the other guys to pay for his name, pockets the money, and basks in the reflected glory whether the media entity makes money or is a miserable failure.
I agree with the earlier comment that Trump’s campaign money is going to get laundered in various ways to create the seed money for this sort of thing. Trump’s campaign pays millions to various media entities for “ads” and “consulting”, then after the election those media guys pay Trump millions to appear on the shows and put his name on the property.
Again, Trump TV doesn’t have to make money in and of itself, it just has to make Trump money and feed his ego. Trump can make money on Trump TV even as Trump TV goes bankrupt.
Yes, but I also think he’s motivated somewhat by grudges and spite–that’s part of the reason why he kept running for president: people laughed at the idea. So he probably would like to do whatever he can to get back at Clinton for “rigging the election.”
And don’t forget Fox News, who treated him so badly. Sad!
Disgraceful!
The basic summary from the general Trump election thread:
Speculation is speculation, but this is very credible. With all due respect to dog shit, Trump attracts the rubes like dog shit attracts flies, and both Ailes and Bannon (but especially Ailes) are experts in monetizing Trump’s particular brand of dog shit. I would actually be surprised if some sort of venture along these lines failed to materialize, even if it differed in the details, because it’s like leaving vast piles of money on the table.
And what an opportunity for young women with career aspirations to be “mentored” by BOTH Trump and Ailes! :rolleyes:
In today’s Washington Post online:
What could a future Trump TV venture look like? Tune in here
http://tinyurl.com/z8w5h6l
Well, sure. But that doesn’t mean Trump isn’t trying to win the election; he absolutely is. If he was trying to lose, he wouldn’t have moderated his stances a bit in the last few weeks; he’d be getting ever more aggressively bigoted and hideous so as to reduce his poll numbers while creating more passionate consumers of “Trump TV.” OR whatever it ends up being called; I doubt Ailes and Bannon will easily concede the naming convention to a 70-year-old man they consider their inferior.
This is not to say Trump doesn’t have a backup plan. Indeed, I am convinced the backup plan is a new media company that appeals to white nationalists. Of course he has backup plans; Trump always has a backup plan, which is why he has escaped bankruptcy and failure so many times. Trump always WANTS the venture to succeed; he would be much happier today if Trump Steaks were selling, or if this or that casino wasn’t losing money. But when they do fail he always has an out. Trump has figured out a way to embiggen his fortune and his ego whether he wins or loses; hey key to success has always been to minimize his risk by finding a way to make money irrespective of the success of failure of the venture. All the same, believe me, he really, really, really wants to win. Trump is not a guy who likes to lose in front of the entire world.