CBS, NBC, ABC more than double Trump coverage, 5 times Carson

By Paul Bedard, Paul Bedard

Published December 20, 2015

American voters, especially Republicans, are getting shortchanged on the GOP presidential primary race by TV networks that are obsessed with Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Jeb Bush and essentially telling viewers who matters — and who doesn't — in the contest, according to a new analysis.

Since the race has heated up, TV news has focused on Trump and Carson, boosting their on-air time while cutting that of Bush and 11 other contenders and not giving former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore a second of attention.

Rich Noyes, research director for the Media Research Center, said that the skewed time candidates get on TV is echoed by the polls and who even gets to appear at presidential debates.

Essentially, getting little TV time means lower polls and getting skipped in the debates, he found.

"During the past three months, the big broadcast networks have essentially stopped covering most of the GOP presidential candidates, a lack of national news attention that presumably affects the national poll ratings used to determine which candidates are included in televised debates," wrote Noyes.