Republicans Fire NBC, Hire CNN, For February Debate

The Republican National Committee has officially dropped NBC as the host of next month’s Super Tuesday debate in Houston and has instead replaced the peacock network with CNN.

In response to what it called unfair treatment in an October debate, the Republican National Committee is refusing to let NBC host an upcoming debate. “The RNC has awarded the debate to CNN, who will broadcast it on Thursday, February 25th in Houston at a location to be decided”, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said today in a statement.

The cancellation is a revenue hit for NBC News, as the Republican primary debates have scored massive ratings – thanks in large part to the attention for front-runner Donald Trump – generating 30-second ad prices in the low six figures.

As he had immediately after the CNBC debate, Priebus, in that stinging late-October statement, pounded the cable news net for “inaccurate or downright offensive” questions during the debate that were “petty and mean-spirited in tone, and created to embarrass our candidates”.

The debate will still be co-presented by Telemundo, the NBCUniversal-owned Hispanic network, according to CNN. Reince Priebus said they were “betrayed” and the GOP was looking elsewhere for debate partners.

“What took place Wednesday night was not an attempt to give the American people a greater understanding of our candidates’ policies and ideas”, Priebus wrote. The National Review, NBC’s original conservative media partner, and Salem Communications, CNN’s conservative media partne, will also participate.

Several GOP debates this cycle have been moderated by CNN-and have been successful so far.

After the debate, NBC said it would try in “good faith to resolve this matter with the Republican Party”, but the two evidently failed to reach a consensus.