Poppy Harlow, who has been with CNN since 2008, is exiting the network. Harlow announced her decision in a memo to colleagues. She was offered a new role following the cancellation of CNN This Morning, but instead decided to leave, the network confirmed.
Six and a half months after Mark Thompson’s arrival at CNN (almost half of Chris Licht’s disastrous tenure), a restless and dour mood is once again enveloping the network. What is Thompson’s true plan, many wonder, and why won’t he articulate it?
There was both praise and criticism of the legal analyst and anchor, Laura Coates, and the network’s split-second decision to show the graphic footage.
“I have loved working with you and something tells me Charles, this will not be the last time that we’re working together,” Gayle King told Charles Barkley in what was the show’s final episode.
Exclusives
The move, which starts March 23, “marks the start of a commitment and investment into topical entertainment programming” on the weekends.”
In an internal memo, Thompson signaled a more aggressive push to achieve the digital transformation of CNN he was hired to carry out as the network’s linear ratings have continued to dwindle.
CNN is dropping latest iteration of CNN This Morning as part of a shakeup of its morning lineup. Poppy Harlow and Phil Mattingly have anchored the show since August, after several lineup changes since its debut in the fall of 2022. Kasie Hunt’s 5 a.m. ET show, known as Early Start, will expand an hour and take on the CNN This Morning title. The changes will go into effect later this month.
The network has been “slow to respond to the challenge” of declining linear audiences, he says.
McCallum, who exited CNN in June of 2022 when she was interim chief digital officer, has been named executive vice president of digital products and services, and will be charged with developing new concepts to attract digital audiences — a key business objective as more of CNN’s cable subscribers find new broadband, social and mobile platforms where they can gain information and knowledge. She had been working as chief revenue officer at The Washington Post. MacCallum will start at CNN on March 4.
The one-hour program which aired from 9-10 p.m. ET, competing directly with CNN’s Republican presidential debate, drew 553,000 average viewers in the key 25-54 demographic. It outpaced CNN’s debate by 68%.
As Donald Trump’s two main Republican rivals slugged it out Wednesday on an Iowa debate stage, the former president appeared across town on a Fox News Channel town hall in a counterprogramming move where few discouraging words were heard. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
In a memo, Stephanopoulos says he decided to step aside to give CEO Mark Thompson the “freest hand possible” to shape the organization.
The cable network and broadcaster held merger talks 20 years ago. A possible mega-deal between Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount could bring those ideas to the forefront again.
CNN will host a pair of Republican town halls back-to-back on Jan. 4, a little over a week before the Iowa caucuses weigh in on the primary race. CNN’s Kaitlin Collins will moderate a live town hall with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at 9 p.m. ET from Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa. Then CNN Anchor Erin Burnett will moderate a live town hall with former Ambassador Nikki Haley at 10 p.m. ET, also from Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa.
CNN said Monday that Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen will return as the hosts of its annual New Year’s Eve show, originating from New York’s Times Square. The channel says that Sara Sidner and Cari Champion will be joining as co-hosts, taking over at 12:30 a.m. ahead of Central Time Zone celebrations. Sidner and Champion will host from Auditorium Shores in Austin, Texas.
The cable news network will host forums next month in Iowa and New Hampshire, whose states represent two early contests for GOP candidates.
The weekly show fronted by Gayle King and Charles Barkley was one of the last greenlights of the Chris Licht era at the news channel.
Can King Charles rule in the heady, competitive world of cable news? CNN will soon find out. The new weekly one-hour program will debut Wednesday, Nov. 29, at 10 p.m., and will be co-anchored by the unlikely duo of Gayle King, who still has her long-running day job at rival CBS News, and Charles Barkley, the outspoken sportscaster who remains a key element in the NBA coverage provided by CNN’s parent, Warner Bros. Discovery. CNN executives are counting on the pair to have freewheeling conversations about the biggest stories in the news cycle. King Charles is viewed as a limited-run series that will last at least through the first quarter of next year.
David Zaslav, the chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery, was friends with some of the network’s biggest names. That didn’t matter when their jobs were on the line.
