October 17, 2006

15 Minutes, 41 Seconds

That's what the campaign of Democrat Phil Angelides wants from NBC stations, after Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's appearance last week on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

The Angelides campaign today released copies of its correspondence with the Federal Communications Commission, which comes after the FCC made inquiries with NBC affiliates in California, and network execs themselves, about Schwarzenegger's appearance... and whether it violated equal time regulations.

The governor's chat on Leno's couch last Wednesday evening briefly touched on politics, but also veered into things like whether he'd spoken German with guest Heidi Klum while backstage, and his son's class project focusing on the "Flat Stanley" cutout figure.

Nonetheless, says the Angelides camp, the appearance was inherently political... and Leno's show should not get a pass at meeting what one past ruling calls a standard based on a programmer's "good faith" discretion about a guest's appearance being newsworthy-- and not political.

"There is a serious question," writes campaign advisor Steve Maviglio in the letter to the FCC, "of whether the decision to book the Schwarzenegger appearance was made in good faith, given Leno's promotion and support of Schwarzenegger's political career [in the past] and the lack of any recent newsworthy event that would justify Schwarzenegger's appearance, other than his candidacy for office."

You can read Team Angelides' entire letter here. Even if the FCC ultimately rejects the argument, the episode gives the Democrat's team a way to keep their guy's name in the press, in addition to campaign issues and events.