News

Anderson Cooper is one of TV’s best-known news anchors, but his new agent isn’t known for a strict specialty in representing talent tied to video journalism.

Cooper has aligned himself with CAA CEO Bryan Lourd, according to four people familiar with the matter, and the selection is being taken as a possible sign that the CNN mainstay may be looking to explore other opportunities as the economics of TV news become more shaky. Cooper has been with CNN since 2001, but over the years hosted a daytime program distributed under the aegis of CNN’s then-parent corporation, Time Warner; guest-hosted the game show “Jeopardy”; and was considered as a potential co-host for Kelly Ripa on Disney’s syndicated morning program “Live.” He also works as a correspondent for CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” which allows him to run the segments he reports for the newsmagazine on CNN.

CAA declined to...

CNN is expected to announce significant job cuts this week, part of CEO Mark Thompson’s long-in-the-works restructuring plans to place more emphasis on the digital future.

CNBC first reported on the job reductions, which could number in the hundreds. A CNN spokesperson declined comment.

As he has laid out a digital strategy, Thompson has long signaled that it would come with reductions in staff. The network went through a round of layoffs last year, with about 100 people impacted, or 2.9% of a 3,500 employee workforce.

The network has sought new avenues for raising revenue, launching a paywall last fall on CNN.com, which is one of the highest trafficked news sites in the world. But its linear network has had to grapple with sagging ratings. Figures such as Chris Wallace and Alisyn Camerota have recently departed the network as their contracts expired.

The job reductions are now commonplace across media, as companies...

For TV-news outlets, 2025 is shaping up to be a year of out with the old and in with the….who?

With the economics of newsgathering less certain as info-hounds move to streaming and social media for their early facts, traditional TV-news venues have been parting ways with veteran anchors and correspondents. Whether the decisions are mutual or unilateral, amicable or adverse, they will leave places such as NBC News, MSNBC, Fox News, CBS News and CNN with fewer of some of their most recognizable faces at a point in the business cycle when viewership tends to narrow.

Hoda Kotb is taking a final lap this week at NBC’s “Today,” after deciding to leave the show and spend more time with her young children. Andrea Mitchell will this month sign off from the MSNBC program she has anchored since 2008, opting to work her reporting roles more heavily. Norah O’Donnell will...

Gloria Borger, who has been senior political analyst at CNN, is departing, the network confirmed.

Borger has been with the network since 2007, and has been a prominent figure in election coverage. She has appeared on shows like The Situation Room and AC360, but scaled back her role at the network in recent years.

Previously as chief political analyst, Borger hosted the documentary Fight for the White House: Joe Biden’s Long Journey, and in 2016 reported on the longform All Business: The Essential Donald Trump and Almost President: The Agony of Defeat.

Before CNN. Borger was national political correspondent for CBS News and contributed to Face the Nation, 60 Minutes II and special events coverage. She also was co-anchor of CNBC’s Capital Report. Status newsletter first reported on her departure.

CNN Worldwide CEO CEO Mark Thompson has been in the midst of a new strategic focus on the network’s digital efforts amid leaner budgets.

Over the past 12 months, Elon Musk continued his streak of somehow finding a way into just about every social-political conversation, it seemed, something that was readily apparent in his midyear endorsement of Donald Trump.

As the co-leader of the Department of Government Efficiency, a made-up department designed to identify areas of the federal government to cut, Musk inevitably will be that provocateur once again.

The wild card is ego, as there may be only so much space in the spotlight for the world’s richest man and the world’s most powerful one. After all, Barack Obama’s relentless mocking of Trump at the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner has been seen as a tipping point that led to the then-The Apprentice host’s first White House bid; Likewise, it was Joe Biden’s diss of Musk at a White House electric-vehicle event that help set off the latter’s migration from left to right.

Linda Cardellini has lined up her next gig at HBO: She’s set to join the cabler’s upcoming limited series Dtf St. Louis helmed by Patriot creator Steve Conrad.

The dark comedy follows “a love triangle between three adults experiencing middle-age malaise that leads to one of them ending up dead,” according to its official logline. Details for Cardellini’s character were not immediately available.

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The series...

CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota is speaking out after her surprising announcement that she is leaving the news network. The long-time host shocked fans on Sunday afternoon (December 8) when she said that she was exiting CNN, effective immediately. Camerota made the announcement ahead of Sunday’s edition of CNN Newsroom, confirming the show would mark her last day with the network. “Big News, Everyone! — today is my last day on CNN,” she posted on Instagram. “Tune in at 4:50p (et) for my sign off. Keep it here for updates!” At the end of Sunday’s Newsroom, Camerota addressed the viewers, saying, “Before we go, on this very busy news day, I just wanted to take a moment to share some personal news. This is my last day on air at CNN.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alisyn Camerota (@alisyncamerota) “I’ve had such incredible opportunities here these 10-plus years,...

CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota announced she is leaving the network Sunday at the beginning of her show. After she praised the network for having afforded her “incredible opportunities” that were “the kind of peak career experiences that I had dreamed of since I was a teenager,” she told viewers to follow her on Instagram and hinted at things to come: “I’ll see you all soon.”

“Before we go on this very busy news day, I just want to take a moment to share some personal news,” Camerota began. “This is my last day on air at CNN. I’ve had such incredible opportunities here these past ten-plus years. I’ve interviewed presidents and heroes and extraordinary people. The kind of peak career experiences that I had dreamed of since I was a teenager.”

“The journalists at CNN are the very best in the entire news business. And it’s...

Alisyn Camerota is signing off from CNN for good, announcing her departure after 10 years with the news network.

The 2x Emmy-nominated broadcast journalist shared the announcement on Sunday, ahead of what will be her final broadcast at 4:50pm Et, after she joined CNN in 2014 and co-anchored New Day, as well as co-hosting CNN Newsroom and CNN Tonight.

“Big News, Everyone! — today is my last day on CNN,” she wrote on Instagram. “Tune in at 4:50p (et) for my sign off. Keep it here for updates!”

Camerota shared a heartfelt statement during the broadcast. “Before we go on this very busy news day, I just wanted to take a moment to share some personal news. This is my last day on air at CNN,” she began.

“I’ve had such incredible opportunities here these 10+ years, I’ve interviewed presidents and heroes and extraordinary people — the kind of peak career...

Alisyn Camerota is leaving CNN after a decade with the cable news network.

“Big news, everyone! Today is my last day on CNN,” she announced on Instagram Sunday, telling her followers to tune in at 4:50 pm Et for her “sign off.”

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CNN chairman and CEO Mark Thompson also released the following statement:

Alisyn is a rare talent with...

Alisyn Camerota, whose steadying presence on air helped make her a prominent face of CNN during the first Trump administration, is leaving the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed outlet, she disclosed via social media on Sunday.

“I’ve had such l incredible opportunities here these days 10+ years, I’ve interviewed presidents and heroes and extraordinary people – the kind of peak career experiences that I had dreamed of since I was a teenager?” she said during her final minutes on the air Sunday. ” I’m always touched when a viewer comes up and tells me that I helped get them through these challenging times.” She indicated that she had some future projects that would become known soon.

Camerota joined CNN in 2014 after a long stint at Fox News Channel. She served more than six years as a co-anchor on “New Day,” a flagship morning program that a previous management team led by...

Alisyn Camerota will exit CNN. Her last show will be Sunday afternoon.

Camerota announced the news on social media just hours before her final show. In a brief message, the news anchor encouraged fans to tune in at 1:50 p.m. Pt for her sign off.

Camerota anchored CNN’s morning show New Day from 2015 to 2021. Since then, she has hosted and co-hosted programs such as CNN Newsroom with Victor Blackwell and CNN Tonight with Jake Tapper and Laura Coates. More recently, she became a floating political commentator for the network, as well as a correspondent for The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper.

On air later Sunday, Camerota said CNN had provided her “the kind of peak career experiences that I had dreamed of since I was a teenager,” adding that “the journalists at CNN are the very best in the entire news business, and it’s been an honor to have been their colleague.

On the set of CNN’s “NewsNight,” guests may not be certain whether they should shake hands or ball them up into fists.

When the cameras are off on the set of anchor Abby Phillip’s program, the atmosphere matches that of a nice dinner party.

Before the 10 p.m. show even got on the air one night last week, producers offer panelist Ana Navarro a pillow to sit on so the diminutive commentator seems like she’s matched — at least optics-wise — with her neighboring guests Olivia Nuzzi and Bryan Lanza. And in the middle of one commercial break, conservative analyst Scott Jennings is heard to remark that he’s found a new friend — the progressive figure Nina Turner — in a declaration that surprises the producers who work on the program.

When the cameras start transmitting to viewers at home, however, it’s time to get real.

Navarro doesn’t...

CNN anchor/correspondent Alisyn Camerota’s memoir “Combat Love: A Story of Leaving, Longing and Searching for Home,” is being developed for film and TV from Tiwary Entertainment Group, the producers behind Broadway musicals like Alanis Morisette’s “Jagged Little Pill” and Green Day’s “American Idiot.”

The memoir explores Camerota’s teenage years in the 1980s music scenes and gritty clubs of the Jersey Shore and New York City. She shares stories of her backstage shenanigans with punk bands like the Ramones, and trying to get herself into the world of her favorite local band, Shrapnel.

“Combat Love” also details Camerota’s fragmented relationship with her mother. She left home at the age of 16, and in the memoir retraces her path toward becoming a TV reporter.

Camerota has been in journalism for three decades, and has earned two Emmys (for coverage of the death of George Floyd and arrest...

After playing Number Six in Battlestar Galactica, Tricia Helfer took on quite a few more acting roles. One of her most notable post-Battlestar roles was playing Charlotte in Lucifer. Helfer will also be appearing in upcoming projects including Hello Beautiful.

Tricia Helfer continued her acting career long after the end of her iconic role in Battlestar Galactica. Before joining the 2005 reboot of the legendary 1978 science fiction series, she began her career as a fashion model in the early 1990s, winning the Ford Models' Supermodel of the World contest in 1992. She retired from the industry in 2002, moving on to a career in acting with early roles that included episodes of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Jeremiah, as well as the Judd Nelson crime thriller White Rush.

Helfer was part of the Battlestar Galactica cast in the 2005 series and continued playing one of the show's main characters for all four seasons through its finale.

CNN is turning some of the lights out on its efforts to produce morning news.

The network is revamping its entire A.M. schedule as the Warner Bros. Discovery-based cable news outlet continues to grapple with poor ratings.

Poppy Harlow and Phil Mattingly, who co-anchor “CNN This Morning,” will leave the line-up, while Kasie Hunt’s early-morning program will take on an extra hour. Her show, “Early Start,” will run from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., and will take on the “CNN This Morning” title. CNN will then move “CNN News Central,” anchored by John Berman, Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner, to a 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. slot, with Jim Acosta and Pamela Brown taking over new hours at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m.

The moves mean, as CNN CEO Mark Thompson said in a note to staffers Monday, that “we will no longer produce morning programming in...

CNN anchor Laura Coates has moved to CAA for representation, a move that could signal a new era of influence for the talent-agency giant at the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed news outlet.

In a broad overhaul of CNN’s schedule, Coates was recently named to anchor a new 11 p.m. hour at CNN, “Laura Coates Live,” where she will follow Abby Philip, who will hold forth at 10. CAA also represents Erin Burnett, who anchors CNN’s 7 p.m. hour. All told, CAA will represent two of five of the anchors who appear during CNN’s schedule between 7 p.m. to midnight., which usually represent some of the network’s most-watched hours.

In years past, CNN’s primetime was dominated by rival agency UTA, which continues to have a strong roster at CNN. The agency represents Philip — who left CNN for UTA — as well as Anderson Cooper, Jake Tapper, Don Lemon and Alisyn Camerota.

CNN has announced a sweeping overhaul of its TV lineup, giving weekend anchor and political correspondent Abby Phillip a 10 p.m. slot from New York, with legal analyst Laura Coates taking over at 11 from Washington.

CNN chief White House correspondent Phil Mattingly joins “CNN This Morning” along Poppy Harlow, while chief national affairs analyst Kasie Hunt will anchor “Early Start.” CNN also added a new 3 p.m. Et show anchored by chief investigative correspondent Pamela Brown.

“By expanding the range and depth of our programming lineup across multiple dayparts, we are strengthening our reporting excellence throughout the schedule, elevating our ability to tell great stories across platforms, and doubling down on CNN’s position as the most trusted name in news,” CNN leadership said in a statement.

The network is also shaking up its weekend lineup, with Victor Blackwell anchoring “First of All” on Saturday at 8 a.m. Et. Chris Wallace...

In a dramatic overhaul of its programming schedule, CNN has announced new programs and anchors spanning weekday mornings, dayside and primetime, as well as new weekend programs led by veterans of the channel.

The new lineup will see CNN hand the 10 p.m. hour over to political correspondent and anchor Abby Phillip, with 11 p.m. being hosted by legal analyst and anchor Laura Coates.

In the mornings, Kasie Hunt will anchor Early Start, while chief White House correspondent Phil Mattingly joins Poppy Harlow as the co-anchor of CNN This Morning. Chief investigative correspondent Pamela Brown will anchor a new dayside show out of the nation’s capital.

On the weekends, Victor Blackwell, Christiane Amanpour, Manu Raju and Chris Wallace will all host new programs, with Blackwell based in Atlanta, and Raju taking over the Sunday’s Inside Politics while continuing to cover Capitol Hill.

Wallace will host a panel show...

CNN unveiled an overhaul of its lineup, with Abby Phillip getting the 10 p.m. Et primetime slot, while Phil Mattingly will co-anchor CNN This Morning along with Poppy Harlow, and Kasie Hunt will helm Early Start.

Other changes: Laura Coates will anchor a new 11 p.m. Et show out of Washington, while Pamela Brown will anchor a 3 p.m. Et weekday show, The Bulletin with Pamela Brown.

On the weekends, Victor Blackwell, Chris Wallace and Christiane Amanpour will host new Saturday morning shows, while Manu Raju will take over the anchor chores on Inside Politics on Sunday morning.

Wallace, who has been hosting the interview show Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? for HBO Max and CNN, will feature a “provocative panel of some of the country’s best reporters and influential commentators” to analyze the latest news and the 2024 presidential race. Amanpour’s show will focus on international developments.

One notable thing about the headlines coming out of CNN in recent weeks is something they don’t include: news about CNN itself.

Since the exit of former chief Chris Licht in June after a tenure marked by tumult and unwanted publicity, the gossip mill around the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed news outlet has ceased its once-dependable roar. There are no leaks about what happened at CNN’s morning editorial meeting, or chatter about how current leaders Amy Entelis, Virginia Moseley and Eric Sherling talk (or don’t) to the staff. There is even less hubbub about David Leavy, the longtime consigliere who was recently installed to oversee business affairs. and is a longtime consigliere to Warner Bros. Discovery honcho David Zaslav,

People familiar with the network say there is a sense of “relief” within its ranks. It won’t last for very long.

To be sure, CNN still has work to do.

CNN may have cleared its schedule of “Reliable Sources,” but it is making lots of room for “The Source.”

The new program, which will be based in New York and is slated to debut Monday, July 10, at 9 p.m. eastern, is a new hour built around up-and-coming anchor Kaitlan Collins, who has, in the space of just a few years, vaulted from White House correspondent to morning co-anchor to primetime personality. Collins has been leading CNN’s 9 p.m. hour over the past few weeks, but under a catch-all rubric of “CNN Primetime,” which also encompassed town-hall specials and deep-dive interviews with newsmakers led by others.

CNN announced the new program Tuesday night during its Fourth of July coverage and musical celebration, which typically attract a broader audience than its usual weekday schedule.

The name may raise eyebrows among CNN aficionados: The show’s title is similar to one assigned...

Don Lemon’s abrupt departure from CNN will mean another shuffling of its morning-show lineup — a distressingly familiar scenario at the cable news outlet.

Lemon was fired from the network on April 24 (after having anchored that day’s CNN This Morning), writing on Twitter that “I am stunned. … At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network.” CNN said in a statement that Lemon was “offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.”

Lemon’s tenure as a co-anchor of CNN This Morning lasted less than six months; there’s no word yet on who, if anyone, will join fellow anchors Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow for the time being. But the returns on the show, which debuted in November 2022 as CNN’s latest attempt to fix its morning offerings,...

You can’t tie these anchors down.

MSNBC’s Symone Sanders and CNN’s Kaitlan Collins have both moved to WME for representation after previously being signed to UTA, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Sanders launched a new Sunday program in May of last year, and her contract with MSNBC ends in early 2024, according to two of these people. Collins is one of three co-anchors at “CNN This Morning,” which executives at the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned outlet are trying to improve after a rocky start, and where the three hosts have had to work through on-set tensions.

The defections of the two anchors from one big agency to the other puts a spotlight on the never-ending battle between Hollywood heavyweights to woo new clients. Both talent firms are powerhouses. UTA represents many of the top anchors at CNN, including Jake Tapper and Alisyn Camerota, as well...

CNN This Morning has tapped Lauren Mensch and Chris Russell as its new executive producers, an effort to bolster the network’s morning show after its debut in November.

They will succeed Eric Hall, who departed in January to helm the 11 Pm hour of CNN Tonight hosted by Laura Coates.

Mensch will serve as EP and showrunner, overseeing the execution of the 6-9 a.m. Et show and leading its editorial direction. Russell will executive produce during the dayside and evening hours, focused on editorial and infrastructure for the following morning. They will report to Ryan Kadro, senior vice president of content strategy.

Mensch most recently was the EP of CNN Newsroom with Alisyn Camerota and Victor Blackwell, in a tenure that included coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the January 6th insurrection. She also was executive producer on CNN-Sesame Street town halls focused on Covid and race relations,...

Lauren Mensch and Chris Russell will take over the reins of “CNN This Morning” as the flagship program’s new co-executive producers, the network announced Monday.

According to a press release from the network, Mensch will “lead editorial direction and oversee control room execution to bring the show to air every weekday morning from 6-9 a.m. Et.” Meanwhile, Russell joins CNN to executive produce during the dayside and evening hours, “bolstering the show’s 24-hour infrastructure and editorial operations so it’s best positioned for the following morning.”

The pair will report to Ryan Kadro, CNN’s senior vice president of content strategy, and will both be based out of the New York Bureau.

“In just over four months, ‘CNN This Morning’ has become a destination for top newsmakers and is well positioned to grow under the leadership of Lauren and Chris, who bring years of experience producing exciting and relevant morning television,...

In an unusual setup for a cable news program, CNN has hired two executive producers to try and rejuvenate its CNN This Morning program, which is anchored by Don Lemon, Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow.

The two EPs are CNN veteran Lauren Mensch, and Chris Russell, who was in talks for the job, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Mensch will lead the show’s editorial direction and lead the team in the control room during the 6 to 9 a.m. hours. Russell, meanwhile, will lead production during the dayside and evening hours to set the show up for the following morning.

Mensch was most recently EP of CNN Newsroom with Alisyn Camerota and Victor Blackwell, while Russell most recently led the NewsNation program On Balance With Leland Vittert. He also previously worked with CNN CEO Chris Licht at CBS News.

While every morning show has producers (including a senior-level producer, CNN...

Don Lemon will be absent from “CNN This Morning” for a second consecutive broadcast as CNN continues to grapple with backlash to comments he made last week about the abilities of women over 40 — a crucial demographic for any morning-news program.

Three people familiar with the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed network say CNN staffers got word around 3 p.m. on Sunday that Lemon, who had been expected to return to his morning duties after taking a previously-scheduled day off on Friday, would not be on air Monday. Sara Sidner, an anchor who has been getting more screen time over the past year, is expected to fill in for him, sitting alongside co-anchor Poppy Harlow while the third member of CNN’s morning show team, Kaitlan Collins, will report from Poland. Some CNN staffers have begun to wonder, according to these people, whether the network may be considering a shake-up of the “CNN This Morning” team.

CNN may be getting ready to take a new swing at fixing its long-running 9 p.m. problem.

CNN is getting ready to launch a new show in that hour called “CNN Primetime,” which is described with a logline that says, “Join CNN’s top anchors for special events and unique conversations about the issues that matter the most.”

Both the show title and the programming descriptions are on display in interactive schedules that subscribers to cable and satellite services can call up to examine programming options. On Thursday, CNN is set to offer a “CNN Town Hall.” Another entry describes a one on one interview between a newsmaker and anchor Don Lemon. A person familiar with the matter says the details were inadvertently uploaded to cable systems and that only the town hall is a go for next week. A launch of “CNN Primetime” may not take place for some time,...

“CNN This Morning” is the network’s lowest-rated morning show iteration in nearly a decade.

Since its Nov. 1, 2022 launch, “CNN This Morning” — hosted by Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins — has drawn in the lowest viewership among adults 25-54, the key demographic for cable news, and the second-lowest total viewership among each iteration of the network’s morning programming since “New Day” was launched in June 2013, according to Nielsen data.

CNN chairman and CEO Chris Licht – following in the footsteps of his predecessor former CEO Jeff Zucker – rebooted the network’s morning show within under a year of his tenure as part of his goal of “reimagining” mornings – likely aiming to compete with “Morning Joe,” which Licht co-created in 2007 when he worked at MSNBC – and invested in the goal by shuffling primetime staple Lemon to the new show.

Also Read:

State of the Union Ratings: Fox News Coverage Sweeps...

CNN This Morning’s viewership ratings have continually declined since the show launched three months ago.

The new morning programme, featuring journalists Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins, kicked off on 1 November.

It premiered just one day after New Day, the show it was intended to replace, concluded on 31 October.

The show already got off to a rocky start, but according to viewing stats from Nielsen, last week CNN This Morning earned its lowest ratings since the show began, averaging 331,000 viewers.

Meanwhile, its competitors Fox & Friends and MSNBC’s Morning Joe drew nearly 1 million and 760,000 viewers apiece across the same time period.

When it first began, CNN This Morning averaged a total of 387,000 viewers. This was six per cent lower on a year-to-date perspective than the series premieres of New Day, which was led by Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.

CNN’s new CEO Licht said at the time:...

CNN unveiled a revamped daytime slate and anchor trios Wednesday that aim to take a “fresh approach” to its daytime programming through two new programs.

The network will host a standalone weekday 9 a.m.–12 p.m. Eastern block anchored by John Berman, Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner out of CNN’s New York studios, while the subsequent 1 p.m.–4 p.m. Eastern standalone program will be hosted by Brianna Keilar, Boris Sanchez and Jim Sciutto.

The new daytime lineup resumes the network’s shakeup under the leadership of CNN Worldwide Chairman and CEO Chris Licht, who stunned viewers in September when he shifted network staple Don Lemon from hosting his own primetime show to co-anchoring “CNN This Morning” alongside Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins.

Also Read:

C-span’s Intimate Coverage of House Speaker Chaos Shows How More Access Can ‘Humanize’ Politics

Other notable changes to the lineup include Jim Acosta...

CNN said it would shuffle anchors across its weekday and weekend daytime schedules, grouping them together in new ways the network hopes will attract viewers as it attempts to work its way out of a longtime ratings shortfall.

John Berman, Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner will lead a three-hour mid-morning program from New York that lasts from 9 a.m. to noon, while Brianna Keilar, Boris Sanchez and Jim Sciutto will anchor a three-hour Washington, D.C. broadcast between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. John King will keep his noontime show “Inside Politics” on weekdays.

CNN intends to showcase an energetic “newsroom headquarters” concept that untethers anchors from their desks and tries to show newsgathering and reporting on screen most of the time. Chris Licht, who took over as CNN’s CEO last year, told Variety earlier this week that he wants to make CNN look more kinetic and energetic than...

CNN, in its latest on-camera lineup moves, has unveiled plans for a new weekday show to run from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., to be anchored by John Berman, Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner out of the New York City studios.

Also on daytime, CNN CEO Chris Licht has unveiled another new stand-alone news program to run from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., with Brianna Keilar, Boris Sanchez and Jim Sciutto as hosts out of the news channel’s Washington studios. The latest changes follow Licht boarding CNN in May 2022 with a mandate to “reimagine” the 24/7 news channel.

“We are leaning into our greatest strengths, showcasing our unparalleled newsgathering operation and giving our anchors the room to be more authentic. We’ve seen how our audience responds to this format, and we believe it will put us in a position of strength going into the evening and primetime hours,” Licht said in a statement.

CNN unveiled an overhaul of its dayside lineup on Wednesday, with plans for morning and afternoon blocks of programming that will each feature anchor trios while emphasizing more energetic breaking news and event coverage.

The approach, the network indicated, would resemble the network’s special event coverage like election night, with a heavy use of graphics and standing anchors, along with ongoing updates from correspondents in the field. A recent example was the way that the network provided ongoing coverage last week of the House Speaker vote.

John Berman, Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner will anchor a standalone program, based in New York, from 9 Am Et-noon Et on weekdays. Brianna Keilar, Boris Sanchez and Jim Sciutto will anchor from 1 Pm Et-4 Pm Et from Washington. The blocs will be produced in Atlanta. Inside Politics will remain at noon-1 Pm Et, anchored by John King.

Other changes: Victor Blackwell, who has...

Pour one out for CNN’s anchors, who will not be pouring one out this New Year’s Eve. The Warner Bros. Discovery-owned cable news channel is asking correspondents and anchors to remain (mostly) sober for the holiday.

As reported by Variety, CNN CEO Chris Licht reportedly told staffers at a Tuesday town hall that he wanted on-camera talent to refrain from drinking during the channel’s annual New Year’s Eve coverage. Licht, who took the position of CEO this May, reportedly wants his first New Year’s Eve at the network to be a teetotal affair due to fears that on-screen drinking damaged the “respectability” of CNN as a news source.

Each year, CNN devotes considerable airspace to documenting New Year’s Eve celebrations throughout the country, primarily those in New York City like the famous Times Square ball drop, as well as in Nashville and New Orleans.

As 2022 goes out, so too will a recent holiday tradition: During CNN’s broadcast of various New Year’s Eve celebrations, Don Lemon probably won’t be downing shots on camera.

The Warner Bros. Discovery-backed news outlet wants to pare back some of the zany antics that have become a staple of its wee-hours coverage of the last night of the year. While Anderson Cooper will still be able to imbibe during primetime hours — along with his co-host Andy Cohen — while the duo holds forth in Times Square, correspondents and anchors who may have slurped down alcoholic concoctions on camera (or off) in the past will be required to halt the practice.

The network’s coverage of New Year’s Eve was a topic of a town-hall discussion held Tuesday between CNN staffers and Chris Licht, the company’s chairman and CEO. The coming New Year’s Eve broadcast...

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The afternoon email hit some inside CNN like a ton of bricks. The cable news channel, now under Warner Bros. Discovery (its second owner in just a few years) was going to face budget cuts and layoffs. “There is widespread concern over the global economic outlook, and we must factor that risk into our long-term planning,” CNN CEO Chris Licht wrote in a late-October memo.

At a network town hall on Nov. 15, Licht confirmed to moderator Alisyn Camerota that layoffs will hit the division in December. Those cuts are part of an industrywide pivot, as media giants prepare for a difficult winter, seeking to reduce costs however they can. And news divisions will not be spared.

At Disney, CEO Bob Chapek sent a memo to division leaders Nov. 11 outlining a hiring freeze, canceling all travel not deemed “essential” and a new “cost structure...

The next star anchor of CNN may not even work there yet.

Executives at the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed news outlet are considering the prospect of hiring a host from outside the network’s roster of correspondents to lead at least an hour in primetime, according to a person familiar with the matter. The plan surfaces after CNN CEO Chris Licht told a town-hall assemblage of CNN staffers Tuesday in New York that he intended to turn his focus to CNN’s 9 p.m. hour after debuting a new morning program led by Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins.

CNN declined to make executives available for comment.

While there is no guarantee the idea will come to fruition, its existence suggests the network is mulling a return to a previous era. CNN has long worked with hosts such as Larry King or Piers Morgan, who typically had little to do with the CNN newsroom,...

Broadcast networks are devoting their primetime hours to coverage of next week’s midterm results, underscoring the stakes and interest in this year’s election. But the night is also a bit of a prelude to 2024, as all of the news divisions and cable news outlets hope that audiences will return for another momentous presidential election.

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The biggest questions Tuesday — whether Democrats retain control of Congress, and whether Donald Trump-backed election deniers win key statewide posts — will have an impact on the next cycle. And speculation of who will enter the field in 2024, and...

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After what was widely seen as a tryout for a primetime show, Jake Tapper is returning to his afternoon show following the midterms.

CNN had positioned its Sept. 22 primetime shake-up — which saw Tapper take over the 9 p.m. Et spot, with Alisyn Camerota and Laura Coates co-hosting the 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. hours — as a temporary one ahead of the November elections. But TV news insiders viewed it as a test for a permanent spot in the lineup. Among the big “gets” during his run were a rare interview with President Biden and the fake heiress Anna Sorokin.

On Wednesday night’s show, during a segment with Jimmy Kimmel, Tapper said he was returning to the 4 p.m. hour “because of my family” and added, “it was always a short-term thing.”

At the 9 p.m. hour, Tapper was competing with MSNBC’s...

CNN’s primetime plans won’t involve Jake Tapper.

The CNN veteran plans to return to his 4 p.m. program, “The Lead,” following the completion of a run at 9 p.m. after next week’s midterm elections, according to a network spokesman. The move raises complications for CNN CEO Chris Licht as he continues to seek a new programming strategy for a TV-news outlet that has been in flux for months.

CNN said it “will announce post-election plans” for 9 p.m. “in the coming days.”

By several accounts, Licht had settled on Tapper as the new anchor for CNN’s 9 p.m. hour, still one of the most-watched time slots in cable news. But the anchor has cautioned he was concerned about what the move might mean for his personal life and family, according to two people familiar with the matter. Tapper has long anchored the late-afternoon program, “The Lead...

CNN chief executive Chris Licht is betting big on his handpicked co-host combo of Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow and Katilin Collins to deliver a win with his morning show reboot, “CNN This Morning.”

As more layoffs loom and his primetime anchor experiments produce unease in the company and tepid ratings so far, Licht is in desperate need of solid results that can win over the trust of a weary and wary staff who have been shaken by the changes Licht has made since he took over the news network last spring under new corporate owner Warner Bros. Discovery.

A change in CNN’s morning was definitely necessary. Over the past year, “New Day” averaged just 414,000 total viewers — its smallest morning audience since 2015 — compared with 839,00 for MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and 1.36 million for Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”

As one CNN insider told TheWrap, “It’s surprising given how horribly this most...

CNN’s new morning show CNN This Morning launched Tuesday with a news-heavy three hours that nevertheless played up an essential element of rival shows: conversation and chemistry.

“I probably got two hours sleep,” Don Lemon, formerly part of the network’s nighttime lineup, said in the opener, flanked by his co-hosts Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins, as they each quipped about their new gigs at the network.

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On a comforting, blond wood set and behind an acrylic desk, with the requisite branded coffee cups at the ready, the three hosts chatted for a bit about Halloween but appeared mindful of striking the right balance of small talk and seriousness,...

CNN is about to enter an era of “noticeable change,” the head of the news outlet cautioned staffers in a new memo, hinting that layoffs and a reorganization could be in store as the unit’s corporate parent navigates a more uncertain economic climate.

“There is widespread concern over the global economic outlook, and we must factor that risk into our long-term planning,” said Chris Licht, the chairman and CEO of the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned outlet, in a memo. “All this together will mean noticeable change to this organization. That, by definition, is unsettling. These changes will not be easy because they will affect people, budgets, and projects.”

The executive did not specify how many positions might be eliminated or in what areas of the company. Under Licht, CNN has already pared some of its workforce devoted to audio, and eliminated the streaming hub CNN+ just weeks after its launch.

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CNN wants to launch its new morning show ahead of November’s midterm elections.

A spokesperson for the cable channel said Wednesday that its new morning program will be called CNN This Morning, and will launch on Nov. 1. If the name sounds somewhat familiar, it could ring a bell because of its similarity to CBS This Morning, the morning show that new CNN CEO Chris Licht helped launch a decade ago (that show was recently renamed CBS Mornings).

CNN This Morning will be anchored by Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow, and Kaitlan Collins, with Lemon giving up his primetime roost and Collins leaving the White House beat to join the show. Harlow had previously anchored an hour later in the morning.

The morning show is one of the first permanent lineup changes made by Licht, who promised that the show would be a “disruptor...

Jake Tapper will interview Joe Biden on CNN Tonight on Tuesday, which marks the start of Tapper’s stint as anchor of the show through the midterms.

Biden has given very few sit down interviews since taking office, one of the most recent being one for 60 Minutes.

The 9 Pm Et slot has been filled with a rotating series of hosts since Chris Cuomo was fired last December. Last month, CNN announced that Tapper would host the primetime show through the election but hasn’t said whether the changes would be permanent.

“We’re going to try to bring you a new kind of show in primetime,” Tapper said on State of the Union on Sunday. “We’re going to try to go a little deeper on an issue or two of the day. We’re going to try to have longer conversations with newsmakers and experts from all facets of our lives.

Sniffling and choking back tears, CNN’s Don Lemon on Friday delivered an emotional farewell as he signed off on his final primetime show, “Don Lemon Tonight,” before moving to anchor the network’s morning show on Monday.

“I was not always perfect, because no one is perfect,” Lemon said after playing a montage of highlights from his eight-year run on primetime. “There are immense pressures that come with this job and in particular this time slot at 10 o’clock, when people are going to bed. So sometimes all I could do — I am going to be honest with you — is just smile and just get to the commercial break sometimes.”

Lemon, who joined the network in 2006 and gained his primetime show in 2014, acknowledged the pressures of his gig. “Sometimes it was exhausting because some of the things that we discuss here are so personal and so consuming, all-consuming,” he said.

CNN has cut some staffers from its audio team, in what the network said was a change in strategy at the division.

A CNN spokesperson said, “Audio is an important growth area for the company. Over the last several years we’ve learned a lot about the topics and productions that most resonate with our audiences. As a result, we’ve refined our strategy to focus our resources more specifically in those areas.”

Business Insider reported that eight people were affected, and they were sales and editorial positions. A network source said that “a small number of changes” but that it was “a relatively small group.”

CNN’s audio division has produced a number of podcasts, including a recently launched series in which Anderson Cooper explores loss and grief. Other podcasts are hosted by on-air personalities including Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Harry Enten, as well as The Axe Files with David Axelrod.

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CNN is shaking up its programming lineup, albeit only on a temporary basis ahead of November’s midterm elections.

The biggest changes are happening in primetime, where CNN CEO Chris Licht is giving anchor Jake Tapper the 9 p.m. hour, with anchor Alisyn Camerota and legal analyst Laura Coates sharing the 10 p.m. – 12 a.m. hours.

9 Pm has been vacant since CNN fired Chris Cuomo last year, with a variety of anchors filling in during that time. Tapper will give the hour some stability, at least through the midterms.

Lemon, meanwhile, has held fort at 10 p.m., but will be shifting to the mornings later this year alongside Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins. Lemon and Harlow will host their last shows in their current timeslots Oct. 7 so they can prepare for the new morning show.

“The world has come to rely on Jake...