There's no doubt the ratings will spike. That's what controversy does. Same reason they had Andrew Dice Clay host that one time.
There's also no doubt that the Rump-worshipers here will have no clue what that ratings spike means. Hint: if SNL had Adolf Hitler hosting that would spike the ratings too.
Of course it will. Let's face it, no one candidate other than Trump could have forced CNBC into cutting the debate program by one hour. Had Huckabee or Kasich made such a demand, NBC would have told them "if you don't like it, don't show up!"
Trump was the ratings getter and CNBC knew it. Without Trump, it wouldn't have been worth their time hosting it. Without Trump, they couldn't charge their sponsors what they did.
Rump is a ratings magnet, I agree. For the same reason that WWE or Gallagher smashing watermelons is. But who suggested he was responsible for cutting a debate by a hour? I'm not familiar with that (wasn't folllowing it either)?
Not a huge controversy but a controversy nonetheless. Here's a link to one of the articles:
Trump Right on 2-Hour Debate Win on CNBC
Thanks for that, although I hardly consider the one-two punch of Newsmax and Donald Rump a "credible source" as to who influenced who.
Doubly interesting that the CNBC guy says it was always going to be two hours, and that Rump talks in terms of "getting the hell out of there".
Three and a half hours seems a long time -- two hours seems a long time -- but I'm counting TEN people on that stage. The more participants there are, the more each gets time cut out, if the total time is a constant. So ten people
requires time, else it's not really a debate.
I think the criticism might be better focused on the idea of milking TV ratings out of a field that hasn't yet pared itself down to a manageable size. But on the other hand if you do want to preview the field, then you're gonna need time. Can't have it both ways.
How long was the Democratic debate with half as many participants?