The big CNN changes: round up….
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.
It became apparent when Klein took over that he wasn’t a fan, and the show’s format changed dramatically with a bigger emphasis on one main story. Greta Van Susteren of Fox News Channel sharply increased her ratings advantage over CNN in the time slot this year.
The New York Times’ Bill Carter gets Klein to comment…
CNN ousted its longtime prime-time anchor, Aaron Brown, today in favor of Anderson Cooper, who has received extensive media attention in the wake of his widely publicized coverage of Hurricane Katrina.
Jonathan Klein, the president of CNN/U.S., said today that he and Mr. Brown had mutually agreed that Mr. Brown would leave the cable news network because the new CNN lineup left “no options” for a program that would include Mr. Brown. “It is, unfortunately, a zero-sum game,” Mr. Klein said.
The realigned CNN lineup will place Mr. Cooper’s program “360,” which had previously run at 7 p.m. Eastern time weeknights, in the 10 p.m. time period that had been occupied for the last four years by Mr. Brown’s program, “Newsnight.” Mr. Cooper’s program will also expand to two hours, from 10 until midnight. CNN has experimented with that two-hour format over the past month, with Mr. Cooper joining Mr. Brown to serve as co-anchor of the program.
As does Broadcasting & Cable’s Anne Becker…
360’s 7 p.m. time slot will be filled by a second daily edition of Wolf Blitzer’s The Situation Room, which will now run from 4-6 p.m. and from 7-8 p.m.
Klein told B&C that CNN had not suggested to Brown that NewsNight move to 7 p.m.
“We affirmatively wanted to build a prime time strategy around The Situation Room at 7 p.m. and Anderson at 10 and that just limited our options when it came to Aaron,” Klein said. “So we mutually agreed to go our separate ways,” he said.
Klein called Situation “a whole new language” of news, and said Cooper’s star has been rising as a result of his heartfelt coverage of late.
“He doesn’t become a buttoned-down stentorian anchor,” Klein said. “He’s just talking to you as a person and I think the audience finds that refreshing. It should not be tried by amateurs. It’s authentic to Anderson. What you see is what you get.”
The Street.com’s Sandy Brown throws out the “F” word….no…not that “F” word…
Brown, aveteran news anchor who came to the nation’s attention after the World Trade Center attacks of 2001, was described by one staffer as “amazingly gracious” about the firing.
The move makes some sense in that you can’t grow an audience from Aaron Brown. He just doesn’t appeal to enough people. I think they should have thought this out better though. Like having a replacement show for 7pm rather than pushing TSR on the people, even though its still only scheduled for 3 hours total. One thing the article doesn’t mention is the 7pm hour, Shep is averaging (from the program ranker) 1.1, Cooper is at .7
So, its not that bad for the time slot. However, he will obviously need to do better than that at 10pm. Just like baseball teams sometimes trade people and work towards the FUTURE. I feel this is what CNN is trying to do. I doubt they think their 7-12 EST numbers will get much closer to FNC anytime soon. But, at least an effort is being made.
Comment by Terance — November 2, 2005 @ 8:07 pm
Terance - You got the shows mixed up on the monthly ranker. Shepard Smith’s 7 PM program is getting a 1.4 rating against Anderson’s 0.7 rating. Shepard Smith’s 3PM program, called Studio B, is getting the 1.1 rating. Yes, The 3PM fox program is beating Cooper by a lot at 7PM.
Comment by Staycee — November 2, 2005 @ 8:27 pm
Thanks! my mistake
The point I was trying to make is more total viewers will be available at 10pm than 7pm. It’ll be very interesting to see the ratings for next week!
Comment by Terance — November 2, 2005 @ 8:35 pm
Aaron Brown had consistently been CNN’s second best show in ratings until Cooper came on, so Terance im not sure what you’re getting at. I dont see anything to gain from this.
Comment by AnonymousHere — November 2, 2005 @ 9:33 pm
Brown was averaging 0.8, Cooper had 0.7. Cooper should have no problem getting better numbers than Brown did at 10pm. Does Brown act more like a news anchor should, according to long time viewers? yes/perhaps…. But, lets not kid ourselves. The name of the game is ratings. Its much harder to change the landscape of your prime time and or grow viewers with Aaron Brown who doesn’t relate to the key demo. I’m not a fan of Cooper or Brown. So, i’m just giving an unbiased opinion. I am a fan of all the tv news channels. I like some of all, just not everything they put out.
Comment by Terance — November 3, 2005 @ 8:33 am
I love hte nicknames Mr. KLein gave Cooper and Brown last month, Fire and Ice. Indeed. The fire has gone and the ice is melting. The next thing we now want to see from CNN is a note that states Mr. Klein has left to write more bad cable movies and spend more time with his family.
Comment by Ms. Anonymous — November 3, 2005 @ 11:38 am