Even if he doesn't become the next president of the United States, there is possibility that we will continue to see lots of Donald Trump on TV. In fact, expanding a media empire might be the Trump clan's next big move post-election.
Trump's son-in-law and campaign adviser Jared Kushner reportedly met with a media dealmaker regarding the possibility of creating a television network after the November election.
Kushner is said to have been in contact with Aryeh Bourkoff, the founder of the boutique investment bank LionTree who was behind deals like Verizon's AOL acquisition, within the past few months.
While it is said that the conversation was informal, brief and has not progressed since, this is not the first time rumors of a so-called "Trump TV" network have surfaced.
Vanity Fair previously reported in the spring that Trump was humoring the thought of expanding his TV business Trump Productions LLC to launch a "mini-media conglomerate."
Both Trump's spokesperson (back in June) as well as the Republican presidential nominee himself (last month) have denied any plans or interest in launching said media company. It was also rumored he would do so with former Fox News chairman Roger Ailes, to which Trump shut down as part of this "false rumor."
Then again, Trump and co. could have had a change of heart and may be willing to put something on the table if he does in fact lose to Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, who currently has an 11-point lead according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal opinion poll from this weekend.
And it's no surprise that Trump has a clear dissatisfaction with the media. He has publicly stated that he believes the media is helping to rig the election, and has criticized reporters and slammed SNL on Twitter for being a "hit job" and part of the media rigging.
Starting a Trump TV network could provide a platform for supporters to continue to tune in to Trump even after the election. No stranger to reality TV with shows like the The Apprentice and beauty pageants, a Trump TV company could instead become the next Fox News channel.
However, even if Trump TV came into existence, Ailes is said to have a non-compete clause that would prevent him from creating a network to compete against Fox News. But this doesn't mean that he wouldn't be willing to help in some way if the price is right.
Trump could also recruit Steve Bannon, the media executive and conservative filmmaker who left the news site Breitbart to become Trump's chief executive officer for his presidential campaign.
While this is all just speculation, it would be interesting to see if Sean Hannity would leave Fox to join the Trump TV network, especially if Megyn Kelly renews her contract since the two are known to butt heads.
Although there are plenty of people who would tune in to Trump content, having an audience doesn’t necessarily mean that the media company would thrive - especially when Fox News has huge ratings and viewership. Sarah Palin tried a similar venture with a subscription service that failed. Al Gore’s Current TV also struggled before being acquired by Al Jazeera.
Don't be so quick to envision TrumpTV. New cable nets must absorb billions of losses before they turn a profit. That's not the way he do.
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) October 17, 2016
While it would be hard to compete against Fox News, which is a well-established network for conservatives, Trump TV could provide additional right-leaning content to Republicans. Kushner, who is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka, is a friend of Bourkoff and the two have previously worked together in the past. Both men have not commented on the Trump TV news.
SIREN: Source close to Aryeh Bourkoff tells me he never followed up with Trump team re Trump TV: "no interest in being in business w/ Trump" — Mike Allen (@mikeallen) October 17, 2016
Photo: Gage Skidmore | Flickr
