OPELIKA, Alabama. On the second floor of a single-family home in a sprawling suburban development, a three-member production team sat behind computer monitors and guided the conservative Right Side Broadcasting Network’s coverage of a recent Donald Trump rally.
RSBN’s program director, whispering into a microphone headset, instructed camera operators and the on-air correspondent how to film the scenes as Trump basked in the crowd’s adoration.
Otherwise, the room was silent. The screens, all silent, showed live images of Trump pointing, waving and gesturing. There was no need for sound – the director and producers have covered so many Trump rallies that they seem to instinctively know what he’s going to say.
“If you’ve heard Trump’s speeches as often as we have, he doesn’t need to be shouting,” said Joe Seales, founder and CEO of RSBN.
In less than a decade, RSBN has gone from an upstart Internet broadcaster to a major player in Trump’s MAGA universe, amassing more than 2 million subscribers on its YouTube channel and Rumble, an alternative video-sharing platform.
As Trump’s loyal herald, delivering his message like a marathon runner, live and unfiltered, RSBN allowed the former Republican president to bypass traditional media outlets and inject his vision for America directly into the veins of his die-hard supporters.
The positive coverage made RSBN a Trump favorite and a destination for his MAGA movement, a reference to the former president’s slogan “Make America Great Again.” Of all the conservative media outlets Trump had to choose from, he chose RSBN to host a special in March at his Mar-a-Lago estate, the day before Super Tuesday, when presidential primary voters in 16 states cast their ballots.
And it all started when a freelance website designer with no media experience had an idea: there was a huge audience for Trump TV.
Seales was a stay-at-home dad in 2015 who was increasingly irritated by the coverage of Trump’s first run for the White House. The major news networks, he said, refused Trump’s pleas to show the size of the crowds he was drawing. He became convinced that there was a sizable audience hungry for a steady diet of Trump rallies, town halls and other events.
Seales and his wife, a former Navy medical assistant who co-owns RSBN, started small, with a single camera, at a Trump rally in Phoenix. Over the years, they grew a modest operation into one with 10 full-time employees and a house full of sophisticated computer and video equipment.
Like other broadcasters, the majority of RSBN’s revenue comes from advertising sales. The commercials aired on Seales’ channel aim to attract consumers with a conservative political leaning.
During a recent rally, a viewer was bombarded with ads from Birch Gold Group urging them to buy precious metals to protect their retirement accounts. “The dollar is falling!” the company warns.
Then came offers of a free “Children’s Guide to President Trump,” endorsed by former Arkansas Republican governor Mike Huckabee.
Prominent election denier and MyPillow founder Mike Lindell smiles broadly in another ad, promising “Up to 80% off everything.”
RSBN has accumulated over 305 million views on YouTube since its launch. Still, betting on Trump is a risky bet. If he is not fighting for the position, advertising revenue drops. RSBN, Seales said, was only profitable during presidential election years.
“If Trump’s not on the air, we’re not going to make any money,” he said.
Seales declined to discuss RSBN’s finances in detail. But he said a single live broadcast of a Trump rally could generate up to $15,000 for RSBN.
“We’re definitely not making tens of millions, I can tell you that,” Seales said. “We’re making enough to survive and get to each event.”
RSBN broadcasts have the vibe of a state propaganda program. But Seales denied that the channel acts as a proxy for Trump or his presidential campaign.
“We are not affiliated with them,” Seales said. “We just cover Donald Trump. Our goal was never to be an extension or cheerleader for the Trump campaign. I just saw a void that I thought needed to be filled in coverage of him as a candidate. And we try to cover it as fairly and accurately as possible.”
RSBN will also not challenge the former president. The channel’s mantra is to let Trump be Trump. If he distorts the facts or ignores them completely, which he does frequently, Seales said there are other websites and news sources where viewers can check him out.
“I really don’t think it’s our place to report someone,” he said. “I like to let people make that decision on their own and research the facts.”
That’s not likely, according to Ethan Porter, associate professor of media and public relations at George Washington University.
He cited a study from the 2016 presidential election that found that less than 3% of people who read or heard false or misleading material also saw a corresponding fact check.
“There is no reason to think that number has changed significantly since then,” Porter said. “People exposed to misinformation rarely choose to read fact checks themselves.”
Jennifer Mercieca, communications professor at Texas A&M University and historian of American political rhetoric said Trump’s MAGA base flocks to RSBN because they trust it more than mainstream news organizations.
“RSBN is a pro-Trump propaganda channel, not an objective news source,” she said. “Avoiding press accountability is great for presidential candidates and presidents, but it’s terrible for democracy.”
Seales invited the Associated Press to Opelika to watch coverage of Trump’s March 2 rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, and to follow an RSBN correspondent who conducted interviews with loyal Trump supporters outside the arena.
Relaxed and friendly, Seales did not interfere during the rally. He spoke to a reporter while the production team worked. A devout Christian who plays golf regularly with his pastor, the 43-year-old prefers to remain in the background and leave reporting and commentary to others.
Seales’ reticence is rooted in his childhood. His father, Jim Seales, played guitar in Shenandoah, a Grammy-winning country band with a string of No. 1 hits in the 1980s and 1990s. He was away for long periods of time touring with the band.
“I couldn’t care less if anyone knew who I was,” Seales said. “I know what fame can do. It hurt my family, my father.”
That’s not the case with Seales’ on-air talent. Your chief correspondent, Brian Glenn, walked along the line of attendees in Greensboro, which snaked through security barriers and stretched hundreds of feet around the arena.
While reporters at traditional news organizations generally avoid editorializing, Glenn promoted Trump and nodded in approval as rally attendees praised the former president.
“Take a look at this line. It’s crazy! Glenn said as the camera panned to the crowd waiting to enter.
“We just need President Trump back in office,” he said a little later.
He asked several people why the country needs Trump back in the White House without reacting, while their answers were broadcast live.
“He’s a moral man,” said one woman.
A man with “Ultra MAGA” stickers on his jacket told Glenn that Trump would “root corruption out of government.”
Glenn did not contextualize the comment, noting that several former Trump administration officials, campaign aides and allies have been accused of crimes. Or that Trump faces dozens of federal and state charges related to hush money payments, the hoarding of classified government documents and a scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Many rally veterans consider Glenn a celebrity in the MAGA world. Outside the Greensboro Coliseum, a woman ran to hug him. “I see you on Facebook all the time,” she said.
Within Trump events, RSBN occupies a privileged position on the platform used by television networks. Below the Greensboro rally platform, some attendees stood at the barriers watching and listening to Glenn’s pre-rally talk as they waited to hear from Trump.
“It’s the MAGA network,” Glenn told the AP. “If you follow Donald Trump and the America First movement, this network is for you.”
Glenn is intimate with a prominent member of the MAGA movement. He is dating Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican who is close to Trump. The relationship became a concern for Seales after Glenn kissed Greene on the cheek live on air at the end of an interview. A recently instituted rule prohibits Glenn from interviewing Greene on air, Seales said.
“I don’t like it,” Seales said of reporters or media personalities dating members of Congress. “But I’m not going to tell him what he can or can’t do in his personal life.”
Neither Greene’s congressional office nor Glenn responded to requests for comment about their relationship. On a website where Glenn promotes a bottled water called “Freedom20,” he wrote next to a photo of him, Greene and Trump that “Marjorie and I share a personal connection that goes beyond politics.”
The Opelika house was not always RSBN’s headquarters. Seales moved there in search of security and privacy. He asked the AP not to release his precise location or record video of the home.
The channel operated in rented offices in an industrial park with its logo on the front. The address was publicly listed and job seekers showed up unannounced. Seales recalled that a man once showed up in his pajamas and said he dreamed he worked there.
Far more concerning, Seales said, were the threatening messages RSBN employees received. He described them as “very cruel and serious”. He said he could not provide details because the messages were turned over to the FBI, which launched an investigation, Seales said.
“We just tried to play it safe,” he said. “In this political climate, it can be quite stressful.”
An FBI spokesperson said the agency neither confirms nor denies the existence of an investigation.
Seales embraced the new location. In recent months, he converted a bedroom into a studio to record podcasts. Anchor desk, teleprompter and professional lighting were installed in another room.
But Seales said he isn’t sure how much longer he will run RSBN. He is thinking about selling the company. Politics, he said, has become too vitriolic and “has taken up too much of our life and time”.
RSBN also faces an uncertain future. If Trump’s attempt to return to the White House fails, the channel’s main attraction will no longer be his candidacy for office. If he wins, RSBN’s status as a center for comprehensive Trump coverage will be diminished as a global press corps follows his every move.
“We base our entire business model,” he said, “around one man doing one thing.”
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Barrow reported from Greensboro, North Carolina.
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