Desperate CNN Set to Undergo Significant Programming Overhaul - Big Names Impacted
CNN plans to move longtime anchor Wolf Blitzer to a new morning slot in an effort to reverse declining ratings at the network.
Blitzer, currently the host of “The Situation Room” at the 6:00 p.m. hour, will host a morning show alongside Pamela Brown for two hours each day, according to a Thursday report from newsletter Status.
Blitzer, 76, recently signed a new contract with CNN, per the New York Post.
He would be on the channel for an extra hour every day under the new changes.
Sources told Status that Jim Acosta, who served as the White House correspondent for CNN during the first Trump administration, could lose his 10:00 a.m. morning show in the transition.
Status is written by former CNN journalist Oliver Darcy.
Kasie Hunt, the host of “CNN This Morning” from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. on weekdays, could meanwhile have her slot shifted to the 4:00 p.m. window in the afternoons.
Jake Tapper, who hosts “The Lead” at 4:00 p.m., may be pivoted closer to the prime-time hours, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
In order to make time for the extra hour taken by Blitzer and Brown, the network must reduce programming elsewhere.
That could happen by ending Acosta’s show or by cutting daytime program “CNN News Central” to two hours each day rather than three, according to Status.
Mark Thompson, who took over as chief executive of CNN back in October 2023, is behind the shuffles, according to Status.
The former president and CEO of The New York Times and director-general of the BBC was hired by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav as CNN continued to navigate a challenging cable television business.
CNN ratings have indeed persistently fallen over the past few years.
The channel averaged roughly 800,000 viewers during prime time in November, marking a considerable decline from the 13.3 million prime-time viewers they averaged in 2016.
CNN was also surpassed by left-wing rival MSNBC on election night.
The former drew 5.1 million viewers, while the latter drew 6 million.
Fox News meanwhile had 10.3 million viewers, ranking first among cable channels for the pivotal evening.
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