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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gives an interview in the spin room after a debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, November 10, 2015. | Getty Images Does Donald Trump want to create a Trump News Network?

Donald Trump has dominated the news cycle for months, delivering record viewership and readership for TV and digital media companies, and according to a Vanity Fair report Thursday, the presumptive Republican nominee is thinking about trying to monetize that audience for himself.

“Trump is indeed considering creating his own media business, built on the audience that has supported him thus far in his bid to become the next president of the United States,” Sarah Ellison wrote in the piece. “According to several people briefed on the discussions, the presumptive Republican nominee is examining the opportunity presented by the ‘audience’ currently supporting him. He has also discussed the possibility of launching a ‘mini-media conglomerate’ outside of his existing TV-production business, Trump Productions LLC.”

According to Ellison’s sources, the idea for a media company was born from Trump’s frustration surrounding “his ability to create revenue for other media organizations without being able to take a cut himself.”

Trump has considered building out a media empire for years. According to the Vanity Fair report, in 2011 NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke and Trump, who was considering a run for president at the time, agreed that if Trump ran for president and won, he’d continue starring in his NBC reality series, “The Apprentice,” as commander-in-chief (never mind that as a broadcast network, such an agreement could run afoul of some FCC rules).

It isn't clear in the story what sort of media company Trump would start, although Ellison suggests it could be a cable channel (she also wrote that such a company could run afoul of FCC "Equal Time" rules, though unless it was a broadcast network such as NBC they would not apply).

Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks initially told Vanity Fair that a media company of this nature “hasn’t been even uttered,” before clarifying: “While it’s true Mr. Trump garners exceptionally high ratings, there are absolutely no plans or discussions taking place regarding a venture of this nature.”

