Though she makes more money than Brian Williams or Charlie Gibson, CBS Evening News anchor doesn’t have their perks. Namely, she never got to host a debate this presidential season, even though there were twenty of them.

How come? CBS News president Sean McManus will tell you it’s because of silly things like scheduling matters; finding a slot on CBS primetime is difficult and stuff.

But it really comes down to money: Having already committed itself to paying Katie $15 million a year, and blown a wad promoting the hell out of her debut, there’s little left to go around for hosting an expensive debate, let alone losing the ad revenue from the limited commercials aired during the broadcast, especially for a news division that’s seeing ratings tumble. (McManus denies finances played a role.)

It wasn’t always meant to be this way. CBS had arranged with the Democratic National Committee for a Dec. 10 debate in Los Angeles, considered a prime opportunity. But then CBS told the DNC it wanted to host the debate at a CBS television studio, without a live audience. It would’ve saved some cash. The DNC balked, negotiations stalled, then the writers strike went down (with WGA members threatening to picket the studio on the day of the debate), CBS continued dragging its feet, and Katie went without. She remains “disappointed.”

But the real loser in this ordeal? Harry Shearer, who never had an opportunity to snag her un-broadcast feed.