The buzz surrounding a relaunch of CNN's early morning block is gaining momentum with new reporting over the weekend from The New York Post and The New York Times. (via: Inside Cable News)
On Sunday Page 6 suggested an announcement from CNN on changes was imminent, following an email to former colleagues from Ashleigh Banfield (rumored to be joining CNN once her contract with ABC ends).
Ashleigh Banfield may have let the cat out of the bag on CNN’s latest shake-up. The former MSNBC host e-mailed her ex-colleagues Thursday to hint at a big announcement next week. Banfield is slated to host an early-morning show on the network from 5 to 7 a.m.
The plan, described by three people with direct knowledge of it, will effectively dismantle “American Morning,” which has had about 10 co-anchors in its 10 years on CNN. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because the changes had not been announced. A CNN spokeswoman declined to comment on Sunday.
Ms. Banfield, at 5 a.m., will have a co-anchor, the people with direct knowledge of the plans said. One possibility is Zoraida Sambolin, who was an early morning anchor in Chicago until this month. Time Out Chicago reported last week that CNN had hired her for a morning anchor slot. Ms. O’Brien, at 7 a.m., may be joined by an ensemble of contributors.
Over on TV Newser, Chris Ariens suggests that any changes probably won't be seen on air until 2012.
The new shows are not expected to hit the airwaves until after the New Year. O’Brien is finishing up a new “Black in America” series for November and, as she told us last month, she plans to take a few weeks off after what’s been a busy 2011. Banfield’s contract with ABC runs through the end of the year.
TVNewser has details of possible changes at CNN's American Morning, with Soledad O'Brien coming back to anchor the last 2 hours of AM and former Court TV and current ABC News freelancer Ashleigh Banfield joining to anchor 2 hours before Soledad. If this happens, where does this leave Ali Velshi? Will he had back to Atlanta to his spot on CNN Newsroom? Remember, CNN Newsroom is losing an hour when the new fall schedule debuts.
CNN Press Release - CNN has unveiled a new evening lineup with anchors Erin Burnett, Anderson Cooper and Piers Morgan to launch this fall, it was announced today by Ken Jautz, executive vice president, CNN/U.S.
Beginning Aug. 8, CNN will broadcast its flagship nightly news program AC360, anchored by Anderson Cooper, live at 8pm and re-air it in its current timeslot of 10pm.
In the fall, CNN will premiere a new general news program with Erin Burnett, which will air at 7pm ET and re-air at 11pm ET. Piers Morgan Tonight will continue to air at 9pm and 12am ET.
John King USA will kick off the evening at 6pm. The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer will continue as a two-hour daily program, airing in a new timeslot of 4-6pm. CNN Newsroom will now air from 9am-4pm. The full programming schedule is provided below.
“The new line-up showcases anchors who are experienced reporters in covering stories that span the globe,” said Jautz. “We created a nightly schedule that brings together the best of CNN’s journalism on a wide range of topics from politics and the economy to global and world events, as well the best newsmaker and celebrity interviews. This line-up ensures viewers access to the best of what CNN has to offer whenever they tune in at night.”
“I’m looking forward to the new time slot and am excited to share AC360 with a new audience at 8pm, while still connecting with my regular viewers at 10pm,” said Cooper.
CNN Fall Schedule (All times Eastern): 6a-9am: American Morning
9a-4pm: CNN Newsroom 4pm: Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer 6pm: John King, USA 7pm: Erin Burnett 8pm: Anderson Cooper 360° 9pm: Piers Morgan Tonight 10pm: AC360 re-air 11pm: Erin Burnett re-air 12am: Piers Morgan Tonight re-air
CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively-syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.
Larry King Reveals Details Of Next Two CNN Specials
Larry King has revealed the focus of two more of his CNN specials, due to air later this year on CNN.
An hour with actor Johnny Depp, and a celebration of the last Harry Potter movie - slated for broadcast in July - will count as specials number 2 and 3 (of 4) planned for 2011.
Speaking with the American Morning team on Monday, King also revealed that he would like to nab a one on one with former Cuban President Fidel Castro.
TV Newser reports that Ali Velshi will soon anchor a new 5:00am program, before staying on to co-anchor American Morning.
According to the report, the new show is not considered to be a permanent addition to the schedule at this stage, which may be good news for fans of CNN International's World One (which is currently simulcast on the domestic network at 5:00am).
A name and launch date have not been set, but it will likely launch at the end of June or early July. Staffers have already been lined up, with most of the production to come out of Atlanta, while Velshi will be based out of New York.
The program is being described as a stage-setter for the day ahead, while also giving viewers the news that morning, and highlights from the night before. In addition to hosting the 5 AM show, Velshi will continue on as co-anchor of “American morning.”
TV Newser says that Velshi's 1:00pm - 3:00pm edition of CNN Newsroom will be anchored by a rotating roster of substitute hosts.
A Conversation With American Morning's Kiran Chetry
Mediaite's Tommy Christopher last week visited the set of CNN's 'American Morning' and spoke to the program's co-anchor, Kiran Chetry.
A few weeks ago, I discovered that CNN’s American Morning co-anchor Kiran Chetry has an unusually devoted fan base, who had a little panic attack when she took a couple of days off. Such intense loyalty deserves closer examination, so I visited the set of American Morning Friday morning, and later interviewed Kiran about her news-heavy morning show, journalism in general, and that John Roberts clip.
In addition to a nearly 30-minute interview, I got to watch the last half-hour of American Morning (which airs Mon-Fri, 6am-9am EDT), and also spoke with Kiran off-camera for quite awhile.
Click here to watch the Kiran Chetry interview across three videos.
CNN Press Release - Beginning Monday, January 17, CNN/US will add two more hours of live programming to its weekday lineup. CNN will now broadcast live from 4 a.m. through 11 p.m. each weekday. (ALL TIMES EASTERN).
At 4a, CNN will air World Business Today, hosted by Charles Hodson and Andrew Stevens from London and Hong Kong. At 5 a.m., CNN will broadcast World One, hosted by Zain Verjee and Monita Rajpal from London, which is a general news program covering both international and domestic top stories. Both programs are simulcasts with CNN International and will air live around the world in more than 200 countries. CNN’s American Morning begins a 6a.m. (ET).
TVNewser has details of changes at American Morning which include anchor John Roberts moving to Atlanta to be closer to fianceé, CNN Newsroom anchor Kyra Phillips.
TJ Holmes will be the first of the rotating anchors to test with Kiran Chetry, as outlined in a memo from CNN president Ken Jautz.
Congratulations! Kyra Phillips and John Roberts Expecting Twins!
CNN sister publication Peopleexclusively reports that American Morning Co-Anchor John Roberts and CNN Newsroom anchor Kyra Phillips are expecting twins in the spring of next year. Roberts and Phillips were engaged in April. Congratulations!
CNN Press Release:Kellerman to Appear Regularly On “American Morning” and other CNN Programming beginning Immediately.
HBO boxing analyst Max Kellerman will join CNN’s roster of contributors, it was announced today by Bart Feder, SVP of programming for CNN/U.S. Kellerman will provide his passionate perspective and insightful commentary on news related to sports and pop cultural issues for CNN’s American Morning program (weekdays 6a-9a ET), and other CNN programs.
“Max has a tremendous gift of commentary, he’s passionate and curious which makes him a perfect fit for CNN, said Feder. Inevitably there are stories from the sports world that hit the national spotlight and we are pleased to have someone of Max’s experience to call upon when the news warrants.” Said Kellerman, "I could not be more excited to join CNN and this extraordinary team."
Kellerman is one of the most respected and gifted analysts in sports. He is currently a commentator for HBO, where he provides ringside commentary for HBO ‘Pay Per View’ and World Championship Boxing and the HBO Boxing After Dark series. While at HBO he was a regular contributor on MSNBC. Kellerman worked previously at ESPN as one of the architects and original hosts of Around the Horn and contributed to the network’s boxing series Friday Night Fights. Kellerman was also a frequent contributor to SportsCenter and penned a weekly column at ESPN.com.
CNN TOPS MSNBC IN TOTAL DAY AND DAYSIDE (9a-5p) IN TOTAL VIEWERS AND DEMO FOR Q1
CNN Press Release - CNN
First Quarter 2010
For the first quarter 2010, CNN outperformed MSNBC in both total day (M-Su/6a-6a) and nearly doubled MSNBC during the day (M-F/9a-5p) among total viewers and the key demographic adults 25-54. During the quarter -- in total day, CNN averaged 507k total viewers, a 27% advantage over MSNBC’s 398k, and posted 150k in the demo 25-54, 9% more than MSNBC’s 137k. During non-opinion programming (M-F 9a until 5p) in head-to-head comparisons, CNN attracted 578k total viewers and 139k among adults 25-54, easily topping MSNBC’s 305k and 74k respectively. MSNBC placed 4th or 5th each hour of the day during the first quarter among adults 25-54.
Compared to the prior quarter (Q4 2009), CNN grew its audience across several key dayparts, including total day, dayside (M-F 9a-5p) and M-F and M-Su primetime. In total day, CNN is up 6% in total viewers and increased 11% in the demo adults 25-54; during dayside, CNN rose 3% and 5% respectively; in weekday primetime (M-F) the network is essentially even in total viewers and increased 6% in adults 25-54; and during M-Su primetime the network was up 3% in total viewers and grew 8% in 25-54.
First quarter program highlights:
CNN’s AC 360 outperformed MSNBC’s Countdown at 10p among total viewers (728k vs. 598k) and adults 25-54 (227k vs. 197k)
CNN’s American Morning outperformed 4th place Morning Joe in adults 25-54 (133k vs. 108k)
CNN’s Rick’s List topped MSNBC Live at 3p among total viewers (596k vs. 306k) and adults 25-54 (132k vs, 72k) and Dylan Radigan at 4p among total viewers (624k vs. 322k) and adults 25-54 (128k vs. 76k)
CNN’s Situation Room bested Hardball at 5p among total viewers (661k vs. 525k) and adults 25-54 (149k vs. 96k), The Ed Show at 6p among total viewers (618k vs. 547k) and adults 25-54 (156k vs. 116k) and Hardball at 7p among total viewers and adults 25-54 (157k vs. 151k)
March 2010
In March, CNN also outperformed MSNBC in total day among total viewers (460k vs. 400k). During the day (9a-5p), CNN had a 63% advantage over MSNBC in total viewers (501k vs. 308k) and a 57% lead in the demo 25-54 (119k vs. 76k) in head-to-head non opinion programming.
CNN – the only non partisan cable news network in primetime – grew its M-F primetime audience more than the other cable news nets compared to last month (February 2010/M-F). In M-F primetime among total viewers, CNN was up 11%, while FNC and MSNBC increased only 4% and 9% respectively, and in the demo 25-54, CNN increased 11%, more than FNC’s 5% increase, while MSNBC was up only 1%. And in M-Su primetime, CNN was up 23% in total viewers and increased 21% in the key demo.
Specifically in March, compared to last month (Feb. 2010) – Anderson Cooper (10p) grew an impressive 28% in total viewers and was up 17% in adults 25-54. Larry King (9p) was up 1% in total viewers and 9% in 25-54 and Campbell Brown (8p) rose 7% in total viewers and increased 3% in the key demo adults 25-54.
HLN
First Quarter 2010
HLN continued its streak of ratings growth by posting its best quarter in network history for both Morning Express with Robin Meade and The Joy Behar Show. The flagship morning show scored 187k viewers in A25-54 for its best performance in the demo in the network’s history. This represents 26% growth over Q1 of 2009 in A25-54 – the most growth over year-ago of any cable news morning program. The Joy Behar Show, which launched in September 2009, scored the best quarter ever among total viewers at 9 pm in network history (634k), and also posted the most year-to-year growth of any primetime program in cable news among total viewers (26%).
CNN REACH
On an average monthly basis for Q1 2010, CNN again topped the competition with a reach of 104 million, ahead of FNC (94 million), MSNBC (90.2 million) and HLN (88.3 million).
In March, CNN remained ahead of all cable news competition in reach with 93.2 million viewers, followed by FNC (87.5 million), HLN (80.8 million) and MSNBC (78.7 million).
CNN DIGITAL
In February, CNN Digital was ranked No. 1 among ALL News and Information sites in several key metrics, beating MSNBC Digital in video and traffic during their Olympic coverage.
VIDEO · No. 1 in Video Streams: 152 million total streams, beating No. 2 MSNBC Digital by 8% or about 12 million streams and No. 3 Yahoo! News by approximately 154% or 92 million streams. (Source: Nielsen VideoCensus, Feb-10) TRAFFIC · No. 1 in Total Usage Minutes: 957 million minutes, 30 million more than No. 2 Wikipedia and 127 million more than No. 3 MSNBC Digital. · No. 1 in Share: with 8%, 1 point ahead of No. 3 MSNBC Digital · No. 1 in Time Per Person: 21.7 minutes, the highest time spent among the top 20 News and Information sites, 3.3 minutes more than No. 2 MSNBC Digital and 6 minutes more than No. 3 Weather Channel. · No. 1 in Page Views: 1.5 billion page views, ahead of No. 2 MSNBC Digital by 25% or 343 million and beating No. 3 Yahoo! News by 123% or 849 million. (Source: Nielsen Online Netview, Feb-10) MOBILE CNN Digital was also No. 1 in Mobile, with 14.2 million unique visitors in January, a 15% increase month over month in the news and current events category. CNN Digital on mobile beat the nearest competitor, Yahoo! News by 187%. This is the 37th consecutive month that CNN Digital has topped the news and current events category. (Source: Nielsen Mobile MediaView – Jan. 2010)
CNN Dedicates Week of Coverage to America’s Broken Government
CNN Press Release - Reporting and Analysis Across All CNN Platforms Beginning Monday Feb. 22
With constituents giving Congress one of its lowest approval ratings ever and politicians throwing in the towel, the issue increasingly uniting the right, left and middle is that the government is not working the way it should.
Beginning Monday, Feb. 22, CNN launches Broken Government, a multi-platform initiative to report in-depth on how the current environment in Washington as well as state capitals and small towns is disappointing and enraging many Americans and what solutions are being proposed to fix it.
As with the Stimulus Report, CNN will air several segments per hour from American Morning through Anderson Cooper 360°, culminating in an hour-long special hosted by Jack Cafferty at 7p.m. Friday, Feb. 26 titled Broken Government: A Cafferty File Special Report.
Throughout the week CNN correspondents and contributors will file in-depth reports from around the country on issues including the debate over government spending, congressional gridlock, outrageous medical expenses, Wall Street bonuses, the disappearing middle class, and the rise of Independents as partisan extremism grows. CNN will bring its contributors and experts together--including TIME magazine correspondents--to offer diverse perspectives and analysis on these issues.
CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.
CNN Press Release - Since the story of the ACORN workers caught on tape surfaced it has been part of CNN programming on the following CNN shows, on the dates listed (transcripts of each are available on our transcript page):
In addition, CNN.com has published stories on this topic, and has six video segments available to viewers. These can be found on the CNN video section on our Web site.
Jamie Kraft Named Executive Producer for CNN's American Morning
CNN Press Release - Award-winning producer Jamie Kraft has been named executive producer of CNN's American Morning, the network's flagship morning program, it was announced today by Bart Feder, senior vice president for current programming, CNN/U.S.
Kraft has been the acting executive producer since May, 2009 and during that time, American Morning's audience has grown eight percent compared to a year ago. Prior to that, he served as the program's senior broadcast producer for the past year, and now will oversee all aspects of the program's production and mission as the hard-news alternative in the morning. Since Kraft joined the program in August 2008, American Morning has seen a 26% increase in audience.
As the program's senior broadcast producer, Kraft was responsible for editorial direction and was instrumental in selecting upcoming stories and overseeing long-term projects. He covered major news stories included the 2008 presidential campaign, the election and inauguration of President Barack Obama, the terrorist attacks on Mumbai, the economic and financial crisis and the death of Michael Jackson. Before joining American Morning, he was a senior producer for Anderson Cooper 360 for three years where he was responsible for overseeing all daily and future editorial content for the program, and played an integral role in propelling AC360 to the number one 10 pm program in cable news last year.
"Jamie is an extremely talented journalist, a dynamic leader and the right person to carry on CNN's tradition of offering the most hard news in morning television, said Feder. "Since Jamie joined the program, American Morning's audience continues to grow, and he will play a pivotal role in the show's future success."
Said Kraft, "I am excited and honored to be at the helm of CNN's morning program. I am so proud of John Roberts, Kiran Chetry and this entire team and what we have accomplished this past year. The show's recent success is undeniable, and the possibilities are endless."
Kraft came to CNN from CBS News where he worked for more than 13 years. He was a producer on 60 Minutes, where he worked on investigative reports and sports profiles for Steve Kroft. Prior to that, he was a producer for the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather where he produced for Rather, and produced assignments domestically and internationally. While there, he received an Emmy award for his lead story on the September 11 terrorist attacks. Kraft also produced "The American Dream," a weekly series reported by Rather, which later became a book. He opened and managed the CBS News Southeast regional bureau in Atlanta, coordinating all aspects of the region's news production. In addition, during his tenure at CBS he produced for 48 Hours and Street Stories with Ed Bradley. Awards he received while at CBS included a Gracie award, two Emmy awards and a New York Press Club award.
While a CNN, Kraft was part of the coverage teams that earned two George Foster Peabody awards for its Katrina reporting and the 2008 Presidential Campaigns and Debates, plus an Edward R. Murrow Award for the Lebanon/Israeli conflict and two Emmy awards for Anderson Cooper 360.
Kraft earned his bachelor's degree in journalism and economics from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. He resides in New Jersey with his wife and four children, and coaches three of his children's soccer teams.
CNN Press Release - CNN TOPS MSNBC IN TOTAL DAY BY 45% AMONG TOTAL VIEWERS; ALSO TOPS MSNBC IN TOTAL DAY DEMO 25-54 AND IN PRIMETIME IN TOTAL VIEWERS
Campbell Brown Grows in Total Viewers Compared to a Year Ago, Larry King Live Tops Maddow in Total Viewers and
Anderson Cooper 360 outperforms Countdown with Keith Olbermann in Total Viewers and Demo 25-54
CNN’s American Morning and HLN’s Morning Express with Robin Meade Outperform MSNBC’s Morning Joe
CNN Digital No. 1 TV News Property on the Web in July
For the month of August, CNN continued to top MSNBC in total day in both total viewers and in the key demo adults 25-54, and in primetime among total viewers (M-Su and M-F). In total day, CNN averaged 573k in total viewers, 45% more than MSNBC’s 396k, and posted 162k among 25-54, 13% ahead of MSNBC’s 143k. CNN also increased its total day advantage over MSNBC during August, growing to a 45% lead from 32% a year ago in total viewers, and increasing to 13% from 11% last year among 25-54.
In primetime (M-Su/M-F), CNN outperformed MSNBC among total viewers with 892k vs. 813k and 939k vs. 938k, respectively.
CNN primetime program highlights include: • Campbell Brown grew its total viewer audience compared to last year, up 13% (762k vs. 673k), while Countdown with Keith Olbermann lost -4% of his audience. • Larry King Live topped MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow in total viewers for the 11th time since her launch, averaging 1.090 million vs 1.073 million last August. • At 10p, Anderson Cooper 360 easily outperformed MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann in total viewers (866k vs. 695k) and in the 25-54 demo (260k vs. 243k).
Also in August, CNN’s American Morning outperformed MSNBC’s Morning Joe in total viewers (409k vs. 337k) and in the key demo adults 25-54 (148k vs. 117k). American Morning has topped Morning Joe every month since the MSNBC program launched in the fall of 2007 among total viewers. In August, Morning Joe placed fourth among 25-54.
On Friday evening (August 28), CNN’s coverage of Senator Kennedy’s memorial, Ted Kennedy Remembered (7-10:09p), attracted 1.929 million total viewers and 475k in the 25-54 demo. MSNBC’s coverage (7-10:20p) posted 1.377 million in total viewers and 310k among the demo, while FNC (7-10:20p) had 1.342 million and 274k, respectively. On Saturday, CNN’s coverage of the Kennedy funeral mass (10a-1:30p) averaged 2.339 million total viewers and 619k in the demo, while MSNBC had 1.096 million total viewers and 270k 25-54 and FNC posted 1.676 million in total viewers and 305k in the demo. Coverage continued into the evening with the Kennedy motorcade in Washington, D.C. and the burial at Arlington, with CNN (4-8:30 pm) registering 2.913 million total viewers and 692k 25-54. FNC (5-8:27p) posted 1.627 million total viewers and 348k 25-54, while MSNBC (5-8:32p) had 1.342 million and 335k, respectively.
HLN HLN continued its successful 2009 with growth in a number of key time slots, beating MSNBC every hour from 6am through 2pm. Compared to August 2008, Morning Express with Robin Meade delivered 12% growth among 25-54 viewers and 2% growth among total viewers, beating MSNBC’s Morning Joe in 25-54 viewers by 21% (141K vs. 117K). Prime News at 6 pm increased 16% among both 25-54 viewers and total viewers. Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell delivered 9% growth among 25-54 viewers and 10% growth among total viewers, and Showbiz Tonight delivered 16% growth among 25-54 viewers and 11% growth among total viewers.
REACH CNN continues to reach more viewers than any cable news network, while HLN tops MSNBC among cumulative audiences in August:
With a combined TV and online reach of more than 135 million, CNN continues to reach more people on more platforms than any cable news competitor in June, including MSNBC and Fox News. (Source: Nielsen Fusion – June 2009)
CNN DIGITAL In July, CNN Digital was the Internet’s No. 1 TV news property beating the competition in all metrics, including: - Unique Visitors: 38.7 million – 2.1 million more than MSNBC Digital; 23 million over Fox News Digital; 22.3 million more than ABCNEWS Digital; and 28 million above CBS News Digital. - Total Minutes: 1.2 billion – 424 million more than No. 2 MSNBC Digital, 835 million more than Fox News Digital, over 1 billion more than ABC News Digital and 1.1 billion more than CBS News Digital. - Average Time Per Person: 32.1 minutes – 24% greater than Fox News Digital, 44% greater than MSNBC Digital, 270% greater than ABC News Digital and 317% greater than CBS News Digital. Additionally, among ALL News and Information sites in July, CNN Digital was No. 1 in Total Minutes and Average Time Per Person among the Top 20 News and Information sites, as well as Share of Online News (9%).
Year-to-date, CNN Digital also is the Web’s No. 1 news video property, averaging more than 109 million streams per month.
With 12.8 million unique visitors, CNN Digital remained the number one mobile news destination in July, surpassing the nearest competitor Yahoo! News by 144%. CNN Digital has remained the number one mobile news and information site for 31 consecutive months according to Nielsen Mobile Media View. (Source: Nielsen Mobile Media View, July 2009)
TVNewser has the story of American Morning Entertrainment and Culture Correspondent Lola Ogunnaike leaving CNN today. Her contract was not renewed. As of now her photo is still at CNN.com/anchors and CNN.com/AM. Best of luck to her in the future!
Look for Bonnie Schneider tomorrow, December 24, on CNN's American Morning (6-9 AM ET) and on the morning editions of CNN Newsroom with Heidi Collins (9-11 AM ET) and Tony Harris (11 AM-1 PM ET).
