Here’s How Fox News Can Easily Triple Its Ratings for First GOP Debate

Cable news is a chaotic business. Attempting to plan anything in advance can be a risky proposition. Things are constantly in motion. Reflection on doing a good show or booking a quality guest is almost unheard of.

But when a big event can be hyped, that’s when cable news can flourish both from a quality and ratings perspective. And starting in August, leading up 2016’s three presidential debates (and the always-more-entertaining VP debate), the big events will be the primary debates, particularly on the GOP side since that contest for the nomination is obviously a true horse race. Fox News gets the first debate in early August but ran into a logistical problem: How can a debate be held with potentially 16 candidates on one stage? Time for thoughtful answers and space in general would make such a spectacle an absolute joke. So to make the process somewhat manageable, Fox took the number down to ten candidates, who will be chosen based on aggregate polling.

But polls at this stage are more based on brand name than anything else, which may explain why Donald Trump would currently make the cut. In total, four of the top ten currently in the tournament haven’t even announced yet, including the so-called front-runner Jeb Bush (who “leads” the #2 seed Marco Rubio 10.8 percent to 10.3 percent). So is it fair that a Carly Fiorina or the popularity-challenged Rick Santorum are left off stage because they’re polling one whole percentage point lower than the #10 seed, Rick Perry? Of course not. But some would argue even ten candidates sharing a debate stage is too much, so what’s the network to do?

Per an FNC press release earlier, the network says a few hours before the August 6 debate begins, America’s Newsroom (anchored by Bill Hemmer and Martha MacCallum) will host a candidate forum. During that time, candidates outside the top ten will be allowed to take part. If the debate is the NCAA tournament/Big Dance, this qualifies as the NIT. Nice idea, but Fox is missing a huge opportunity here, and here’s why:

As Rahm Emanuel once said: Never let a crisis go to waste. Fox will get huge ratings the night of the debate no matter how it’s structured, no doubt. So why not embrace the Santorum solution, double the fun and have two debates on back-to-back nights with all the candidates. If 16 people do end up running, simply call it the Sweet Sixteen (sticking with the NCAA theme) and have eight on stage one night and eight another. Under this scenario, nobody cries foul or gets shafted, and everyone gets a chance to be heard. And if you’re Fox, you’ve just buried your competition for two nights and possibly a third (more on that in a moment).

So will the Sweet Sixteen formula be based on polling? Nope. Instead, we go to the NBA Lottery route by putting balls into a bin, assigning a number to a candidate and simply lining up the candidates for each night randomly. And if you’re Fox, you actually get a third night of monster ratings because even the selection show can be hyped for weeks, just as CBS and ESPN do with the NCAA Tournament.

Debate #1 Moderator: Bret Baier
Debate #2 Moderator: Chris Wallace
Lottery Selection Hosts: Shep Smith, Megyn Kelly (with Charles Krauthammer, Steve Hayes, Dana Perino, Julie Roginsky and Joe Trippi on standby panel)

Cable news is a tough business when it comes to planning ahead. News is constantly changing and comes from 1000 different directions. The race to be first oftentimes precedes the importance of accuracy.

But when a big night can be planned — State of the Union, a convention, a big announcement — cable news applies its resources and is rewarded for it on the ratings front.

Fox has a chance here to not only do the right thing by allowing all the GOP candidates into the first debate, but make it more watchable, more interesting, and less confusing. Addition by division: Instead of leaving up to six candidates behind, let them all in.

And in the process, turn one ratings juggernaut into three.

It’s almost too easy.

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>> Follow Joe Concha on Twitter @JoeConchaTV

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.