It's understood in the newsroom: Air the Trump rallies live and uninterrupted. He may say something crazy; he often does, and it's always great television.

Trump doesn't force the networks to show his rallies live rather than do real reporting. Nor does he force anyone to accept his phone calls rather than demand that he do a face-to-face interview that would be a greater risk for him.

My friends in the TV news business are in a state of despair about Donald Trump, even as their bosses in the boardroom are giddy over what he's doing for their once sagging ratings.

Early on, even before he was the front-runner, TV news was giving Trump far more attention than other candidates and far more than he deserved.

TV news has largely given Trump editorial control.

As the ratings go up, so does advertising revenue.