Possible Media Ambitions Behind Trump Campaign's New Live Show

The new nightly Facebook live show that Trump advisers have launched ahead of the final two weeks of the campaign may signal a foray into a formal media presence, but the transition from political campaign to cable news show -- or even channel -- has been tried before, without great success.

When asked specifically if the live show, dubbed "Trump Tower Live," was a precursor or test case for a larger, post-election media operation, Trump communications adviser Cliff Sims said, "this effort is a result of conversations that took place inside the communications team on how to best utilize Mr. Trump's massive online platforms to reach people with his message."

Speculation about the ultimate goal of the show -- and whether it could be the first iteration of some form of "Trump TV" -- has been fueled by reports that Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner has had conversations about possibly forming a media property, though that has not been confirmed by the campaign.

The involvement of several right-wing media players, most notably former Breitbart executive chairman turned Trump campaign CEO Steve Bannon and former Fox News founder turned Trump adviser Roger Ailes, gives some credence to the possibility.

Thomas Patterson, a professor at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, said that "someone like a Trump kind of fits the profile as someone who could" try to launch a media company of sorts after an election if he doesn't win, but it's a hard journey ahead if that's the case.

"There's lots of obstacles to this thing. It's easier said than done," Patterson said, noting that a number of failed presidential candidates have tried similar moves in the past.

Patterson cited Ross Perot and Pat Robertson as early examples of failed candidates who tried to create a media-based enterprise after their presidential bids. A more recent example is Al Gore, who was intricately involved in the now-defunct Current TV.

"One of the big challenges for any new outlet is the way cable is structured and what kind of placement you're going to get. They don't have to carry you and they don't have to give you any priority. Gore ran into that. ... He was so far down the list."

"There's lots of problems and it takes a lot of money and my sense is that you're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars and you have to get that somewhere," Patterson said.

For the campaign's part, Sims said that campaign officials see the Facebook live show as simply an opportunity to have more impact on voters ahead of Nov. 8.

"Frankly, it would be malpractice for the rest of the campaign not to look for ways" to use Trump's social media presence to communicate to voters, Sims said.

"It started with just doing his rallies and so it kind of morphed from there," he said.

The campaign's live show, which didn't have the official name at the time, made a splash ahead of the third presidential debate in Las Vegas, where Sims and Trump surrogate Boris Epshteyn hosted pre- and post-debate shows that were streamed on Facebook as well as a revamped Trump campaign website showcasing the show.

At the show's peak during that third debate, there were 200,000 concurrent viewers and the show has now been watched more than 9 million times, Sims said.

During last night's inaugural broadcast of "Trump Tower Live," Sims said that they received more than 200,000 Facebook comments during the broadcast itself and it has now been viewed more than 1.4 million times.

"Trump Tower Live," which is now filmed inside Trump's building in midtown Manhattan, is set to air every night between now and the Nov. 8 election, though the start time and length will depend on the candidate's schedule every evening.

The guests will rotate, with Sims saying that they plan to "take advantage of our resources and surrogates that are here in the building to advance whatever Mr. Trump's message of the day is."

One such surrogate tonight will reportedly be former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

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from ABC News: Politics http://ift.tt/2dTdXy9

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