NBCUniversal Digital Writer interview questions

I've interviewed at E! News before, so I knew it would be multiple video calls. From April 2024 through June 2024, I was put through the initial call with the recruiter, then several (I believe 3) video calls with different team members at E! News. Next was the 3-hour edit test. Recruiter then told me they required an in-person final interview, which was in L.A. I'm located in NY and I wanted the position in L.A., so I flew out there to speak to an HR person and another team member. Complete waste of my time and money on flights because roughly 2 weeks later, in July 2024, they rejected me to supposedly hire an internal member. I had a feeling the team was just dragging me along because they never even talked salary. Salary range was indicated in the job posting, so I thought that several ridiculous rounds of interviews was a good sign. Not only that, but one of their HR staff - who nicely walked me into their Universal City office - told me to my face that the in-person interviews were an indication that I "got the job already." No team should ever drag out their candidates who paid hundreds of dollars to travel. Just tell them early on that you're not willing to recruit, train and pay a new employee. I will never speak to the E! News team again. It's not all of NBCU's fault, but there should be better oversight of the recruiting process.