If Donald Trump runs for the presidency as he has hinted about in recent weeks with the media, it could leave some gaping holes in NBC's already troubled lineup.

But not everything relating to the absence of "The Apprentice" can be blamed on Trump's supposed political aspirations.

A new story in The New York Times suggests that NBC is considering a backup plan for "The Apprentice" and "The Celebrity Apprentice" if Trump were indeed to officially become a presidential candidate. Equal airtime demand from other presidential candidates -- moves designed to ensure networks don't favor one major candidate over another -- could force NBC to pull "The Apprentice" and "The Celebrity Apprentice" off the schedule.

Yet, even if Trump decides not to run, as widely expected, "The Apprentice" probably wouldn't be back anyway.

After two years off the air, "The Apprentice" returned with a non-celebrity version to terrible ratings. Airing Thursdays at 10, following "Outsourced," "The Apprentice" managed just a 2.6 rating/5 share in Fast National overnight ratings from The Nielsen Co. That was a 24 percent drop from an already weak "Outsourced" lead-in, and had the same drop compared to what NBC did in the timeslot the year before.

It's also well behind its "Celebrity Apprentice" brother. That show so far is averaging a 5.0/8 through the end of March, nearly double the ratings of its original. While "Celebrity Apprentice" is ranked No. 42 overall of the entire network television schedule, "The Apprentice" is No. 89 (out of 107 shows), performing better only than "Perfect Couples" (2.0/3) and "School Pride" (1.7/3).

Without celebrities vying for Trump's admiration and approval, audiences just don't seem to care about "The Apprentice," even this season when the cast featured potential business executives who hit hard times because of the current recession.

In fact, among network reality competition shows, "The Apprentice" is by far the lowest-rated of the Big Four, and ahead of only "America's Next Top Model" when The CW is included. Of the 16 shows that did worse in the ratings, six of them are cancelled or just waiting an official announcement, and the rest are on The CW.

Last year, NBC had to cancel the "Jay Leno Show" so that advertisers had a stronger lead-in to the late local news. Yet, this season, nearly every 10 p.m. show is performing worst than last year. Only Mondays and Wednesdays are stronger nights for NBC in the timeslot, thanks to "Law & Order: Los Angeles" and "Harry's Law." But everything else is not even close.

Yet, NBC doesn't seem quite ready to give up on "The Apprentice" quite yet, especially with all the buzz Trump is getting in the news lately. But it could be all for nothing anyway.

"Anyone assuming that the reality show host's interest in running for president is just another one of his publicity stunts would not like be wrong," political analyst Charlie Cook said, according to The New York Times.

"Celebrity Apprentice" airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.