Big Changes at CNN Due to Low Ratings

The ratings for CNN have been dismal for many months. Some drastic changes are coming down the pike now.

One morning show which began during the Chris Licht era at the cable news network is on the chopping block. Say adios to Poppy Harlow and Phil Mattingly, CNN This Morning hosts. It is reported that they will have new roles at the network but that information isn’t being announced now. 

Kasie Hunt currently hosts the 5:00 a.m. hour on CNN. She will take over the new CNN This Morning from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. CNN News Central, a news program, will take over the rest of the old CNN This Morning time slot. It will air from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. The show’s anchors are John Berman, Kate Bolduan, and Sara Sidner.

CNN CEO Mark Thompson announced the coming changes on Monday. 

But wait, there’s more. Jim Acosta currently anchors five hours of weekend programming on CNN. He will move to weekdays. He will host CNN Newsroom at 10:00 a.m.

A new show anchored by Pamela Brown will launch in the spring at 11:00 a.m. It’s called The Bulletin with Pamela Brown. She is on maternity leave and Wolf Blitzer will host the show until she returns to work.

The new schedule will debut later this month.

There will also be a change in locale in the production of the morning shows. 

On the backend, the new slate means CNN will no longer be producing its morning programming out of its Hudson Yards studios New York; the team that produces CNN This Morning in New York will be disbanded; in an internal memo, CNN CEO Mark Thompson said they “will be strongly encouraging [those staffers] to apply for the many new open roles that we are making available this week in Atlanta and Washington, DC, along with a number of other open roles in New York in other programming blocks.”

Ever since Jeff Zucker left the cable news network, CNN has battled ratings woes. The network saw audience highs during the Trump administration. The network seemed to be all-Trump all the time. But, CNN ended 2023 with the lowest number of viewers since 2014. It also had the lowest younger demo audience. 

The morning show has been a problem for a while.

The demise of Chris Licht’s morning show — which initially boasted Harlow, Don Lemon, and Kaitlan Collins as hosts — marks the final nail in the coffin of Licht’s boldest programming play at the network he ran for 18 months.

The show debuted in 2022 and featured the trio of star anchors around a talk-show table on a rosy-pink set. It quickly fell apart, first making headlines thanks to tension between Lemon and Collins, then over Lemon’s comments about when women are in their “prime.” Licht fired Lemon; Collins moved to prime time. For the last year, Harlow has been holding down the morning show.

Thompson sent a memo to employees. 

“These changes mean that we will no longer produce morning programming in New York and will be disbanding the team that currently produces ‘CNN This Morning’ in that city. Our New York-based primetime and weekend programming will continue,” Thompson wrote. 

“What we are announcing today is a change in strategic direction and not a reflection on the talent, expertise and dedication of the New York based editorial production and operations teams who’ve worked on our morning output – they’re among the best in the business. We will be strongly encouraging them to apply for the many new open roles that we are making available this week in Atlanta and Washington, DC, along with a number of other open roles in New York in other programming blocks,” he continued. “I’m very aware that today’s announcement means a great deal of uncertainty for many valued colleagues. Change and uncertainty are inevitable in an industry undergoing a revolution, but we must never underestimate the human consequences that come in their wake.”

I wonder what he means by a “change in strategic direction.” The network was supposed to change to be a more fair and balanced cable network under Licht’s leadership but that failed. There was no way Don Lemon was going to be a neutral kind of guy no matter what time of day or night he anchored a show. The network got so far over the cliff with its obsession with Donald Trump that regular people couldn’t stomach the network. 

Fox News Channel has beaten CNN in ratings like a drum for a long time. In January, FNC averaged 1.3M total day viewers. The network finished number one in all basic cable. CNN’s audience was 463,000. The most-watched program on CNN was Anderson Cooper 360. The show’s total viewers averaged 733,000. The show finished number 28 in cable news ratings. The show had a smaller average audience than 14 FNC programs and 13 shows on MSNBC. 

Back in the day, when CNN pioneered cable news, it was something that everyone could watch. The news presentation seemed as normal as what the legacy networks offered. Slowly, as time went on, the liberal bias crept in. By the time FNC launched, conservatives were desperate for the fair and balanced coverage that the network offered. That continues today. Yes, Fox leans right but if you tune in to the daytime news shows, you will see balanced panels of guests. They offer both liberal and conservative joint discussions. 

Maybe this flex will help turn CNN around. I’m not holding my breath. 

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