Trump TV flops as Karoline Leavitt accidentally steals the show

President Donald Trump’s new 24-hour “Trump TV” livestream struggled to find an audience, with viewership dwindling to a fraction of its launch-day level as the White House attempts to promote its state-run broadcasting network. Adding to the awkward debut, an accidental Instagram Live from former press secretary Karoline Leavitt easily attracted a much larger audience.

The Daily Beast reported at the time that the White House livestream had fallen to 187 viewers, which was a new low for the channel. However, Leavitt temporarily gained 1,157 viewers after mistakenly beginning an Instagram live stream while she was in bed with her five-month-old daughter.

When Leavitt realised that she was live, she was clearly surprised and then stopped the broadcast at once without saying anything; she later gave an explanation of the incident in a post on Instagram.

“Just accidentally went live while trying to edit a reel LOL,” Leavitt wrote.

She also mentioned that she could arrange a live session later on to answer questions before signing off to go to sleep on Sunday.

The accidental broadcast occurred when Trump TV had been receiving low ratings after its launch on Sept. 21. The White House officially refers to the service as “TRUMP TV: The Essentials Station”, which is a continuous online stream containing administration videos, speeches, policy announcements and clips of Trump and other officials.

When it was first launched, the channel drew in about 8,500 viewers, as The Daily Beast stated. Its number of viewers then dropped sharply and at times fell below 1,000 during its first few days online. The outlet had 427 viewers around 7 a.m. on Wednesday before giving the figure of 187 viewers on Sunday.

At the time of writing this report, ‘Trump TV’ has barely picked up, with a measly 284 watching.

The White House has presented the stream as a way of viewing the administration's most important moments all in one place; it is available via the White House's existing YouTube channel and is also included on the White House website. On the same day, a promotional video from the White House announced that "Trump TV is Here". The White House page states that the stream is a 24/7 channel.

Trump TV was launched as a result of the president’s media ban on three major news organizations. Trump excluded CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House and seized their press passes. In response, NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox News then suspended their participation in the pooled television coverage.

The White House then launched the continuous broadcast, providing the administration with a direct means of distributing videos without having to depend on regular television coverage.

In an unprecedented move, President Trump's private company, DTTM Operations LLC, filed a federal trademark application seeking ownership of the name "TRUMP TV," on September 24.

Trademark attorney Josh Gerben told Newsweek that, "It is likely the first time in United States history that this has happened."

The White House has faced backlash for the move, with critics questioning the lack of independent journalism.

Jane Kirtley, professor emerita of media ethics and law at the University of Minnesota, speaking to NPR, said:

“I think the public has a right to have information that has been subjected to scrutiny and that has been vetted by independent sources.”