And the Internet reactions keep coming in…

WHAC says it got a response from a source close to Brown….

“Although Aaron DID have the feeling that last Fridays NN would be his last, NOTHING was known for sure. He truly DID NOT KNOW what he’d be returning too or if at all. His vacation had been planned for awhile, it was not sudden, and having spoken to him today, he is fine, even somewhat “liberated”, he was NOT happy with much of what’s been going on at CNN. CNN has to pay him for the remainder of his contract which isn’t up until July 2007. BTW, all figures quoted in reports are WRONG!! He has no plans but to rest, relax and figure out what he wants to do in the future besides playing a lot of golf.”

FishbowlNY is definately not pleased with this move. I’m reposting the entry in full…
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Another pass through the internet on the story…

Matea Gold in the LA Times…

Brown, who worked at ABC before being tapped by CNN, garnered a following for his folksy contemplations and unruffled demeanor, especially during his coverage of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks — his first day on the air at the network. So far this year, the ratings of “NewsNight” were 13% higher than last year, with an average audience of 839,000 viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.

However, some viewed him as “almost too pensive for television news,” said former CNN correspondent Charles Bierbauer, now dean of the University of South Carolina’s College of Mass Communications and Information Studies.

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Here’s a round up of the early articles on the story…

The AP’s David Bauder…

Brown, 56, went to CNN from ABC in 2001 and immediately was thrust into a major role with his heartfelt anchoring following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It appeared he would become the face of the network but that never really happened; he was hurt by a widely reported story in 2003 that he didn’t cut short a golf outing to come to work on the day the Columbia space shuttle disintegrated.

His quirky, cerebral 10 p.m. newscast had a following, however, with fans who liked his commentaries and “The Whip,” a quick review of top stories from correspondents across the globe.

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CNN announced that starting Monday Anderson Cooper 360 will air at 10pm with a two hour show. In addition The Situation Room will expand into primetime at the 7-8pm hour. Aaron Brown will be leaving CNN. TVNewser has the internal email on Brown.

Quoting CNN’s official release…

Anderson Cooper will take the helm of a live news program from 10 p.m. to midnight (ET) on CNN beginning next week. Cooper, who has reported from the scene of such major news events as Hurricane Katrina, the famine in Niger, the Terry Schiavo case, the war in Iraq, the tsunami in South Asia and the 2004 elections, will be topping off CNN’s prime-time schedule with two hours dedicated to exploring in-depth the most important and relevant news of the day. Anderson Cooper 360º, which debuted on Sept. 8, 2003, will air from its new timeslot beginning Monday, Nov. 7.

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Paul J. Gough in the Hollywood Reporter wraps up the numbers for the cable news channels…

Fox News Channel averaged 1.7 million total viewers and 392,000 among the adults 25-54 demographic, down 29% in total viewers and 53% in the demo. Total day declined as well in both measures.

CNN’s primetime also fell, down 21% to 824,000 and down 35% in the demo to 229,000. The network was up 1% in total day, however.

MSNBC was down 28% in primetime, losing out again to Headline News for third place (366,000 for Headline News and 359,000 for MSNBC) in total viewers although ahead in the demographic.

CNBC, after months of downward ratings, showed some signs of life on the strength of “Mad Money,” its 6 p.m. ET show that has earned strong ratings. CNBC’s total day viewership was up 31% to 158,000 and primetime viewership was up 2% to 132,000

The New York Observer’s Rebecca Dana profiles the FNC show Fox and Friends…

Fox and Friends is the top-rated cable morning program (and it even occasionally beats The Early Show on CBS), but its success is often overlooked. It covers the same topics in roughly the same format as its brethren on the broadcast networks. But by positioning itself as the antithesis to standard mealy network fare, Fox has become an unlikely beneficiary of—and a factor in—the morning-show wars.
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We don’t usually get these types of profiles of behind the scenes people. The St. Louis Post Dispatch’s Gail Pennington has a profile of MSNBC’s Vice President of Primetime Programming; Bill Wolff…

Dismissing any “lucky break” talk, Kaplan says Wolff “is an extraordinary talent and has been a terrific addition to our team. He’s a perfect blend of smarts and wit, and I knew when I first met him that he would be exactly the right person to lead our prime time - someone who could be both respected and appreciated.”

Wolff’s watch includes overseeing shows by MSNBC hosts Carlson, Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Rita Cosby, Joe Scarborough and Dan Abrams.

“Every morning I meet with the executive producers of each show to discuss as a group the stuff we might talk about that night,” Wolff says of a typical day at MSNBC’s headquarters in Secaucus, N.J. “Of course, we’re not sure at 9 a.m. what the day will hold, but this gives us a head start on possible themes.

“All day long, problems crop up, and I never know what the new problem will be. It’s a thousand little things. I put out a lot of little fires.”
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The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Gail Shister plays up the Brown angle and whips out the “D” word….

If CNN’s Aaron Brown is forced to swap time slots with Anderson Cooper, expect Brown to see red.

CNN is pushing for hot-as-a-rocket 7 p.m. anchor Cooper to trade up to the 10 p.m. slot occupied by Brown’s NewsNight since 2001, according to several highly placed CNN executives, speaking on condition of anonymity.

It would be a major demotion for Brown. Far fewer people watch TV at 7 than at 10, and, more important, it would cement Cooper’s image as the new face of CNN.
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The LA Times Matea Gold has a story on the possible primetime changes TVNewser reported yesterday….

Network officials are now looking to better showcase Cooper, considered a favorite of CNN/U.S. President Jonathan Klein. One possibility involves the two swapping their original time periods, sources said, with 56-year-old Brown taking over the 7 p.m. slot and the 38-year-old Cooper anchoring the flagship 10 p.m. newscast, presumably in the hope of attracting a more youthful audience.

CNN spokeswoman Christa Robinson would not comment on the ongoing discussions, saying only that no decisions had been made.

It remains to be seen whether Brown, long CNN’s lead anchor, would go along with any changes. He and Cooper are both on vacation this week and unavailable for comment.

The talks are just the latest indication of the growing profile of Cooper, a former ABC News correspondent who also hosted that network’s reality show “The Mole.” After Katrina hit, he decamped to the Gulf Coast for much of September, delivering often emotionally wrought reports about the destruction.

CNN officials have increasingly been touting his anchoring style as they attempt to regain their standing against Fox News, which has held the top spot in the cable news wars since 2002.

One thing that hasn’t been discussed at all so far is what form this supposed switch would manifest itself. Simply plugging Cooper into Newsnight might fly, but plugging Brown into 360 in its current form would be a disaster. 360 is far too hip and hyper for the laid back, methodical style of Brown. So unless CNN plans on swapping formats as well as anchors (e.g. taking the 360 format/style to 10pm along with Cooper), 360 will most likely cease to exist as a concept if Brown takes over at 7 pm.

Do note the Deborah Potter kicker quote….

FTVLive is hearing that Rick Sanchez will host the show Wednesday night. It was part of an FTVLive blog entry on the Aaron Brown saga and alleged leak investigation that WHAC reported today.

FTVLive has an interesting footnote to the CNN PDF numbers. Apparently, these PDFs were circulated internally at CNN and comments were made about those PDFs in an email thread. Well someone at CNN apparently sent out those PDFs with the email comments attached because FTVLive has them posted. Although it’s a tad embarrassing for CNN that this leaked out, frankly, there’s nothing earth shattering or incriminating in the email thread. All PR orgs at the cable nets make daily decisions about what to include and what not to include in releases. It’s just that we aren’t usually privy to those deliberations. For the record, not everybody who was emailed those PDFs got this version. The version I received did not have those emails.