Donald Trump was the most sought after and interviewed GOP presidential candidate on cable news in the past four weeks, according to a new study by the Media Research Center.
Fox News, MSNBC and CNN interviewed the billionaire businessman far more during a four-week period ending April 15 than his Republican competitors, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
Trump was awarded 178 minutes on Fox, 106 on CNN and 43 on MSNBC during this time period, according to the MRC study, which was restricted to primetime hours during weekdays and covered more than 230 hours of programming. These numbers account for only sit-down interviews and town halls, and don’t take into account all the time that the cable news networks have spent on debate and campaign event coverage.
In contrast, Cruz claimed 133 minutes on CNN, 120 on Fox and 35 on MSNBC. Kasich was featured for 106 minutes on CNN, 100 on MSNBC and 84 on Fox.
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Part of this disparity can be attributed to the fact Trump makes himself readily available to media outlets, whether in person or by phone.
The same is true of his many supporters, which includes family members, campaign staff and designated surrogates, who also racked up more time in the monitored four-week period than Cruz and Kasich backers.
Taken together, the amount of time that Trump and his supporters were featured on Fox between March 21 and April 15 totaled 397 minutes. Trump and his crew were also featured for a total of 331 minutes on CNN during this same time period.
However, they were given only 71 minutes on MSNBC.
In total, Cruz and his supporters earned 265 minutes on CNN, 164 on Fox and 65 on MSNBC.
Kasich and his team of backers got 134 minutes on CNN, 115 on MSNBC and 105 on Fox.
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“The gap between Trump and his competitors on Fox might have been wider but for the fact that the campaign in early April moved from the Midwest to New York, where all three cable news operations are headquartered,” the MRC study explained.
“During the first two weeks of our study, Trump and his surrogates claimed 214 minutes of airtime, vs. 62 minutes for Team Cruz and an even punier 24 minutes for Kasich’s crew.
“But from April 4 to April 15, as the campaign in Wisconsin ended and the candidates moved east, Trump’s coverage ebbed slightly, to 183 minutes, while both Cruz and Kasich saw their face time on Fox expand — Cruz to 102 minutes, Kasich to 81,” it added.
The award for most-featured campaign surrogate went to Trump backer and CNN contributor Kayleigh McEnany, who was featured on the cable network for a total of 70 minutes during the four-week period examined by MRC.
