CNN Boss Reshuffles Daytime Lineup In Desperate Attempt To Save Dying Network After Experiencing Lowest-Rated Year In History
Jan. 11 2023, Published 5:45 p.m. ET
CNN honcho Chris Licht is continuing to make drastic changes to the struggling network — and this time, he's taking aim at his daytime lineup, RadarOnline.com can report.
Several anchor seats will shift in a last-ditch effort to save the once-coveted news station after experiencing the lowest-rated year in history. RadarOnline.com discovered CNN came in last place for total viewers in both primetime and total day, losing out to competitor Fox News.
According to data from Nielsen Media Research, CNN fell drastically below Fox for 2022 primetime viewers, coming in at just 174k for the key A25-54 demographic. Fox blew CNN out of the water by hitting 346k for the same category.
When it came to total day primetime for 2022, CNN scored 123k for the A25-54 demographic. Fox hit nearly double at 231k.
The shakeup means a shift in the news organization, with the focus moving to breaking news and event coverage.
“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 revealed in a statement on Wednesday.
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The changes won't happen right away. While it's expected that CNN's reorganization will begin in the spring, months following the bloodbath layoffs, several of the network's stars will likely be affected by new schedules and jobs.
John Berman, Kate Bolduan, and Sara Sidner will anchor a weekday program from 9 AM ET to 12 PM ET. Brianna Keilar, Boris Sanchez, and Jim Sciutto will anchor from Washington for 3 hours per day beginning at 1 PM ET.
John King and his show, Inside Politics, will remain in the 12 PM ET timeslot.
The weekend schedule will change too, with Victor Blackwell anchoring on Saturday mornings. She will also be co-anchoring CNN This Morning Weekend with Amara Walker. In a surprising move, Jim Acosta will be getting more airtime on the weekends, with Deadline reporting he'll be on TV screens from 4 PM to 8 PM on Saturday and 4 PM to 7 PM on Sunday for CNN Newsroom weekend.
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