On Tuesday, as scrutiny of Kamala Harris’s notably press-averse press strategy continued to wend its way through the national discourse, CNN announced that it had scored the very first interview with the Democratic nominee since her boss, President Biden, declared his withdrawal from the race some five or so weeks ago. Of course, that historic decision had been set in motion by Biden’s memorably calamitous showing during CNN’s own presidential debate—another major get in the lingua franca of TV news, for a network that, as loyal readers well know, has suffered more than its fair share of reputational and financial setbacks in recent years. (Dana Bash, who co-moderated the debate, will conduct the interview with Harris and Tim Walz, which will air on Thursday night). 

Indeed, even as CNN is downsizing its business, drawing some of the lowest ratings in its history, and transitioning away from its core linear operation toward Mark Thompson’s still-not-quite-fully-articulated—or, gasp, fully-articulated-and-this-is-all-it-is—vision for its digital future, the network continues to win broadcast rights to some of the most pivotal media moments of this campaign cycle. There was the Iowa Republican primary debate that cemented Nikki Haley’s position as the G.O.P.’s anti-MAGA alternative and, of course, Chris Licht’s memorably disastrous Trump town hall. Obviously, booking and programming are two different skill sets—and they, sadly, have increasingly less connectivity with business operations, but let’s give credit where it’s due.