LEAD STORY
CNN, MSNBC Make Daytime Changes
CNN's daytime programming schedule has been in flux since Chris Licht took over as chairman and CEO of the struggling news network. The man has been busy trying to reimagine the news network, which has affected some of the weekday daytime talent.
Poppy Harlow was moved to CNN This Morning, while Alysin Camerota has been bouncing back between her afternoon show and the late night shift. Additionally, Ana Cabrera left the network at the end of last year.
Licht has turned his focus to the 9a-4p ET daypart revealing a schedule that breaks from the traditional norm of anchor formats but keeps it in line with his vision of a newsier CNN.
CNN’s new weekday dayside programming will be split into two anchor blocks separated by Inside Politics at 12p ET. The first block from 9a - 12p ET will be anchored from New York, featuring John Berman, Kate Bolduan, and Sara Sidner.
The second block will be anchored from Washington, DC, featuring Briana Keilar, Jim Scuitto, and Boris Sanchez.
All these programs will be produced out of CNN’s Atlanta offices.
What’s noticeable about these changes is the elevation of Sidner and Sanchez to the weekday lineup. Sidner comes from the CNN Plus days, where she anchored the Big Picture, which looked at the day's most important and interesting story.
Sanchez, meanwhile, had not finished more than two years as the weekend anchor of CNN’s morning shows. He replaced Victor Blackwell, who is returning to that role as well as returning back to Atlanta.
Camerota will permanently move to nighttime anchoring the 10 pm ET slot, while Laura Coates will focus solely on the 11 pm show.
Over at MSNBC, the network also announced programming changes to its weekday daytime lineup. MSNBC’s moves reflected the growing importance of NBC News’ streaming channel NBC News Now.
The changes affected both MSNBC’s morning and afternoon schedules, with the big move being Chris Jansing getting an extra hour as Chris Jansing Reports will now air from 1 pm - 3 pm ET. As a result, Katy Tur moves her show to the 3 pm ET hour. In the mornings, Jose Diaz-Balart moves to 11 am ET from 10 am ET, and the aforementioned 10 am slot will have a rotating group of anchors until a permanent anchor (Ana Cabrera) is announced.
Changes are also taking place on the weekends as well with Katie Phang starting things off at 8 am ET. She will be followed by Jonathan Capehart, who now anchors on Saturday and Sunday at 9 am ET, and Ali Velshi gets a two-hour block from 10 am ET.
Missing from all of this is Hallie Jackson, who looks like the odd person out at MSNBC. This was intentional as she will be moving her show to NBC News Now, which will be expanded by two hours airing from 5 pm to 7 pm ET.
Jackson will be in good company at NBC News Now, as Morgan Radford, Tom Llamas, and Chuck Todd all host shows on the streaming service.
The CNN changes will take place in the spring, while MSNBC/NBC News’ schedule kicks off in February.
(CNN Press Room, Variety)
RECAP
NBCU News Group Restructures Its Leadership Position And Lays Off Staff
The NBCU News Group had a very busy week. In addition to revealing a new dayside schedule for its MSNBC and NBC News Now channels (see above), the news organization also announced some leadership movements. Noah Oppenheim, who has been in charge of NBC News, announced that he would be stepping down from his position to focus more on his screenwriting career. In his place, NBCU News Group chairman Cesar Conde announced that Rebecca Blumenstein, who joins NBC News from the New York Times, becomes president of editorial for NBC News. Janelle Rodriguez becomes executive vice president of NBC News Now, and Libby Leist becomes executive vice president of NBC News’ flagship morning show Today. All three will be reporting to Conde. Amidst all these changes, 70 staff from NBC News and MSNBC were laid off this past week. The cuts, which did not affect on-air staff, focused primarily on behind-the-scenes roles. (Axios and TVNewser)
Belt Tightening Comes To The Streaming Networks
If there’s one group of people that might wish for the lockdown COVID days, it may be media executives, particularly those involved with streaming. During those days, people consumed a lot of content from streaming networks due to being stuck at home. Streaming networks were spending heavily, believing that the trajectory of media consumption was increasing, but then two significant things happened. The world reopened, and there were too many streaming services. Basically, consumers were hit with options — from the open world and with an abundance of streaming services. The first warning sign that all was not well came from Netflix, which reported a slowdown in subscriber growth during the spring of last year. Now parent companies of the streaming services are dialing back on their ambitious streaming plans, opting to turn them into efficient money makers instead of throwing all kinds of content to chase subscriber numbers. (Variety)
QUICK RECAP
Former CNN producer Vaughn Sterling joins Wall Street Journal as a senior executive producer. (Dow Jones)
WNBA player Lexie Brown joins ESPN's ACC Network. (The Next Hoops)
Pamela Brown named chief investigation correspondent at CNN. (CNN Press Room)
Shanelle Kaul joins CBS News as a correspondent. (Paramount Press Express)
ESPN announces broadcast teams for its XFL games. (ESPN Press Room)
BBC News loses three anchors ahead of its channel merger. (Deadline)
Profile: Netflix's Bela Bajaria on super-serving the audience. (The New Yorker)
YouTube is testing a FAST channels hub. (The Wall Street Journal $$$)
Elizabeth Vargas joins NewsNation. (Los Angeles Times)
Adam Lefkoe signs new contract extension with WBD Sports. (Awful Announcing)
CNN looking at getting content from other Warner Bros. Discovery properties. (Variety)
Did having Joe Buck and Troy Aikman help ESPN with its NFL playoff game selection? (Front Office Sports)
Are T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach lawyering up? (TMZ)
Netflix to join TV upfront week. (Variety)
NWSL's media rights are now available. (Awful Announcing)
CBS News boss Neeraj Khemlani is involved in an internal HR review. (New York Post)
MLB hires Sinclair executive to help manage local media rights. (Broadcasting+Cable)
What’s the deal between WBD Sports and its NBA rights? (Sports Media Watch)
HBO Max raises the price of its ad-free tier. (MediaPost)
The SAG Awards move to Netflix. (Axios)
Fox News’ The Five is cable news’ most-watched show. (The Washington Post)
Netflix green lights two docuseries focusing on the Qatar World Cup and the Six Nations rugby tournament. (Sports Business Journal)
Amazon might have to compensate advertisers for Thursday Night Football's low ratings. (The Wall Street Journal $$$)
The NFL regular season ratings take a dip this year. (Sports Media Watch)
Two former ESPN employees sue the network over COVID-19 vaccine requirements. (Front Office Sports)
CNN to finish relocating from the CNN Center this year. (TVNewser)
ESPN's soft coverage of Dana White’s physical confrontation was not well received. (Front Office Sports)
NBC journalists are upset the network hired Johnny Depp’s lawyer. (Semafor)
CNN's Clarissa Ward is still reporting from the field while expecting her third child. (People)
Netflix revokes staff access to salary comparison. (The Wall Street Journal)
Cheddar News is struggling to find the right strategy. (Talking Biz News)
CSPAN renews calls for House chamber camera access rules changes. (Axios)
Apple reveals list of broadcasters for the MLS. (Front Office Sports)
UK’s GB News, despite gaining audiences, is struggling with staff and ad money. (Bloomberg)
Cameron Maybin is no longer with YES after one season of calling games. (New York Post)
DirecTV's NFL RedZone channel signs off. (Sports Illustrated)
Bob Iger says Disney staff need to be in the office four days a week. (CNBC)
Former CNN/Fox News anchor Paula Zahn hosts show on TCM. (Variety)
Gayle King marks 11 years at CBS News. (CBS Mornings/Twitter)
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A MarkHenry Media LLC publication - Issue #109 - 2024