NBC stations in every market that aired "Saturday Night Live" last week featuring Donald Trump began posting notices that the candidate's competitors in the presidential race would get 12 minutes and 5 seconds of free air time.

According to Deadline, the stations are posting these notices per the "Equal Time" rule of the Federal Communications Commission, which is required by Section 73.1943 of the law.

The law is designed to give political candidates equal time on any media outlet in order to stop a media outlet from unfairly promoting a single candidate of their choosing. The rule is set up to make the democratic process more transparent and clear for the public.

The notice, posted by individual stations in their markets, said, "Donald Trump, a candidate for the Republican nomination for President in the 2016 national election, appeared without charge on NBC's 'Saturday Night Live' for a total period of 12:05 (12 minutes and 5 seconds) commencing at 11:39:11 PM ET on November 7 and ending at 1:01:01AM ET on November 8, 2015."

Although this notice was posted generally inviting competitors, there are some criteria that a candidate must meet before he or she can take advantage of the free air time. They must first demonstrate that they are a serious candidate in the market or state for which they are to appear, which is basically every U.S. market. They are also entitled to free air time, but not necessarily time on "Saturday Night Live."

NBC stations made a similar move after Hillary Clinton appeared in a guest spot on "SNL" that was previously unannounced. But in that case, there was only three minutes of air time available to opposing candidates.

Candidates who wish to take advantage of this free air time will have to do so within seven days.