Yes, Donald Trump will make money for CNN

[Commentary] At the end of a recent interview with Time Magazine, Donald Trump floated an idea: What if he told CNN that unless they made a $10 million donation to charity, he wouldn't show up at the Sept. 16 GOP debate? “I’m not showing up unless you give $10 million to cancer, to this, to that. You pick 10 great charities, $1 million per.” “If I’m in it, they’ll get this crazy audience, and they’re going to make a fortune since they’re selling commercials every time we take a break," he argued. "Would you ever say to them, would you ever say, I want $10 million for AIDS research, for cancer, for this type or not, or is it too cute?” Trump is unlikely to make such an ask, but his general point isn't wrong. Trump likes to boast that he's a wealth creator -- "all over the world, I make money," he has said -- and come Sept. 16, no one will be benefitting so much from Trump's wealth creation as CNN. Here's why:

Before the Fox News debate, on Aug. 6, the highest-rated presidential primary debate on cable had averaged 6.71 million total viewers, and 1.86 million in the coveted 25- to 54-year-old demo. With Trump at center stage, the Fox debate brought in a record-setting 24 million viewers and 7.9 million in the demo, making it the most-watched non-sports telecast in cable television history. Now translate that to advertising dollars: Debate media sponsors like CNN sell "guarantees" to advertisers based on a minimum audience rating that they promise to meet. Because of the first debate's monster turnout, CNN can now jack up the rates on its unsold ad inventory for the Sept. 16 debate in anticipation of, say, 20 million viewers and 5 million or 6 million in the demo -- perhaps tripling the revenues it could have hoped for in another cycle.