Could anyone explain to me how Trump is given so much air time

[malaise]

He has a live press conference on GEM$NBComcast going on an do n.

[Human101948]

1. One word: Ratings!

Eyeballs! he is fantastic at geting an audience.

[HassleCat]

2. He knows what attracts the media.

A fiery train wreck, with dead bodies flying through the air, injured people screaming in agony, blood spurting from arteries, intestines hanging out as victims crawl from the twisted wreckage... And so on. He strives to please, and the media respond.

[99th_Monkey]

3. It is obscene and most extraordinarily so.

NO other candidate gets wall-to-wall breathless coverage when the call a presser. NONE.

The only conclusion I can come to is one of two choices, or maybe a both/and
1) the M$M has found it boosts their ratings to cover Trump non-stop and/or
2) The M$M is already in the tank for Trump, lock stock & barrel.

Trump is a rather scary dude IMHO, who has thousands of tentacles, many into the
darker recesses of the body politic.

[laundry_queen]

4. Well put it this way

it's more entertaining than anything else they could possibly put on at this point. It's live on CNN right now as well. Free ratings I guess.

[bbmykel]

5. He gets great ratings

and thus helps the networks make more $$$

I believe Les Moonves of CBS let the cat out of the bag a few months ago on this (it was obvious to the cynics already I think). You might be able to find his quote somewhere, but it certainly makes explicit that the networks have no sense of providing actual news or serving the public good.

[oberliner]

6. Lots of people like to watch him on tv?

He is much more interesting than any of the other Republican candidates and is liable to say something unscripted and surprising.

[SoLeftIAmRight]

7. No excuse for what they are doing now

damn

[CentralMass]

8. I am going to guess monied influence. It must be profitable

[Blue_Tires]

9. Because he's likely to do/say something outrageous?

and the numbers have shown people want to see this??

Trump is like Howard Stern back in the 90s... I remember some piece back then about how Stern's biggest haters -- The people determined to take him off the air were twice as likely to listen to all three hours as his most dedicated fans, because they all wanted to find that ONE thing he'd do or say that would give them ammo to take to the FCC...

[Manifestor_of_Light]

12. like Howard Beale (Peter Finch) in Network.

I 'M mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore! "

[rbrnmw]

10. let him speak he's slaughtering Cruz, W, and Jeb

which I'm all in favor of

[Xipe Totec]

11. The loudest barker gets the mike. nt

[RichGirl]

13. Yep...ratings...

Cable news, like every other corporation is all about profit/money and that means ratings. Funny how we thought NEWS was the priority...but NO! I don't watch any of them.

The GOP clown car of candidates are way more entertaining than reasonable people talking about intelligent things.

I can only hope that the same people who can't be bothered to educate themselves will also have better things to do than stand in a long line to vote. Let's hope there's a Duck Dynasty marathon on election night.

[Vincardog]

14. because he is a distraction and will never say anything that harms the .0001%

[olddots]

15. knee pads ?

okay sorry that was uncalled for

[safeinOhio]

16. Well there you go

[Glassunion]

17. If it bleeds it leads...

And this is an amazing hemorrhage spewing blood at a rate of 1 million gallons a minute from the GOP.

[Gabi Hayes]

18. ask H. L. Mencken: