Donald Trump Is Ratings Gold For CableTV News

CNN's Anderson Cooper and Donald Trump

Based on The first GOP Presidential debate on the Fox News Channel (which was viewed by 24M peopely), the Sept. 16 GOP debate with Trump and his competitors at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library in Simi Valley is expected to be the most watched event ever on CNN. And the network is cashing in on the anticipation.

The LA Times reports CNN is not disclosing its ratings projections or ad prices, but competitors are hearing that advertisers are being asked to pay in the range of $150,000 for a 30-second spot, a figure more in line with a hit prime time entertainment show.

"It's a lot more than we'd get if Trump weren't in it," said one CNN executive not authorized to discuss the figure.

Trump's ability to bring in viewers to news programs is so powerful he even has a de facto set for his performances.

Atrium at Trump Tower

Networks are acquiescing to his demand that all on-camera sit-downs take place in the marble-walled atrium of the 58-story Trump Tower on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, where his corporate office is located.

All of the major TV news outlets have studios a few blocks away. But candidate Trump takes an elevator from his office down to the front section of a bar that bears his name. In fact, most of the businesses in the atrium, where tourists shop and take photos of one another, bear the Trump moniker.

"That's his TV area, and if you want to get him, that's where he'll do it," according to one of several news producers and executives who described the arrangement to the Los Angeles Times. "You can say no and not get him."

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