Cable television news pioneer CNN announced new programming changes as it struggles to keep up with Fox News and MSNBC’s ratings.
CNN will replace the Newsroom programs, which currently air from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., with two new stand-alone programs. The first program will air from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. from New York and will be anchored by John Berman, Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner
Bolduan previously hosted “At This Hour” at 11 a.m. and will apparently continue to host the program at 8 p.m.
The 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. timeslot will now be occupied by a program airing out of CNN’s Washington bureau and will be anchored by Brianna Keilar, Boris Sanchez and Jim Sciutto.
Sandwiched in-between will be John King’s “Inside Politics,” which will continue to air at noon.
Victor Blackwell and Alisyn Camerota, who have been hosting CNN Newsroom, will be moved to other programs.
The network didn’t specify when the changes would be implemented, but they are expected to take place in the coming months.
“CNN’s Dayside audience is highly influential, with executives and leaders watching from their offices around the country as the day’s news unfolds,” said CNN president Chris Licht, who has been tinkering with the schedule since he took over last summer. He added, “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 has shaken up the CNN lineup by firing “Reliable Sources” host Brian Stelter, moving Don Lemon from his soapbox 10 p.m. show to the mornings (where he shares duties with Poppy Harlow and Kaitlin Collins), and dumping CNN+ despite the enormous investment previous management had made into the streaming service. Licht is trying to return CNN to its news reporting roots and move away from liberal opinion shows, which have left the network a distant third in the ratings.
