On Wednesday morning, a major TV booking opportunity arose unexpectedly. President Biden’s decision to skip the preplanned presidential debates in favor of debates sponsored by individual news outlets sent network executives scrambling to secure the rights.
In a matter of hours, CNN and ABC News managed to secure prime-time face-offs between Biden and former President Trump. This last-minute arrangement required quick thinking and improvisation from network executives.
CNN’s chairman, Mark Thompson, had to rewrite his presentation on the spot after confirming that both candidates had agreed to a CNN debate. ABC News had to coordinate with its parent company Disney to find a free night on the schedule for the debate.
Details about the events are still being finalized. CNN’s debate will be moderated by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, while ABC has yet to announce its moderators. ABC will simulcast the September debate with other networks, while CNN’s debate will air exclusively on its platforms.
Despite Trump’s announcement of a debate on Fox News in October, Biden’s campaign quickly declined to participate. Competitors at NBC and CBS expressed frustration at missing out on the coveted events.
The sudden turn of events caught many by surprise, and some networks were better prepared than others to secure the debates. The decision to have news organizations sponsor the debates had been a topic of speculation within the industry.
Biden’s reluctance to participate in the Commission on Presidential Debates’ matchups was not unexpected. The Biden-Trump debates were seen as a positive development for CNN and ABC, both of which have faced challenges in recent times.
Former CNN president Jeff Zucker commended the network for securing the first general election debate and predicted it would be a historic event for CNN.
John Koblin contributed reporting.
Details about the events are still coming together.
The anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash will moderate the CNN debate, which is set to air at 9 p.m. Eastern. ABC has not yet selected its moderators. ABC will share the September debate with other broadcast and streaming news networks to simulcast; CNN has said only that its debate will air on its own platforms.
Mr. Trump said on Wednesday that he would also appear on Fox News for a debate in October, but the Biden campaign quickly made it clear that its candidate would not participate.
Competitors at NBC and CBS were left wondering what might have been. Some journalists at those networks privately expressed frustration on Wednesday that their bosses had not secured the coveted events.
Representatives for CNN and ABC declined to elaborate on their exact conversations with the candidates. Several journalists at the networks said that executives had appeared as surprised as anyone by Mr. Biden’s announcement, and that the day had unfolded at lightning speed.
Some networks may have been better prepared than others.
The prospect that individual news organizations might end up serving as debate sponsors had already been the subject of widespread speculation within the highly competitive TV news industry. Some executives had started thinking through contingency plans.
Mr. Biden had repeatedly declined to pledge his participation in the fall matchups arranged by the Commission on Presidential Debates, the nonpartisan group that has sponsored general-election debates since 1987. One of Mr. Biden’s closest advisers, Anita Dunn, is a longtime critic of the commission. And while Mr. Trump had promised to meet Mr. Biden “anywhere, any place,” he has also complained about the commission.
The Biden-Trump debates were welcome news to journalists at CNN and ABC, networks that have had bumpy runs of late.
ABC News’s previous president, Kim Godwin, stepped down this month after a tumultuous tenure marked by morale problems and softening ratings at the network’s flagship morning show. CNN, which emphasizes straightforward news reporting, has struggled to compete against more partisan competitors in an age of polarization.
Jeff Zucker, a former president of CNN, praised the cable news network on Wednesday for securing the first debate of the general election, which is typically the highest rated. “I am incredibly proud of them to pull this off, and I think it will be a really momentous night for the country,” he said at a conference in London.
Mr. Zucker also offered a prediction. “This will be,” he said, “the most-watched event, day, night, in the history of CNN.”
John Koblin contributed reporting.
