The Big CNN Changes: Round Up Take 4
Another round of articles….
The New York Post’s Don Kaplan…
Industry buzz about shifting Cooper into Brown’s time slot has been building for weeks, but the situation made for some awkward moments after CNN paired the two at 10 p.m. on “NewsNight” about a month ago.
TV industry sources said Brown losing his job at CNN was far from unexpected.
“NewsNight” has long been a ratings drag on the network’s primetime lineup and began to fall on hard times about two years ago, when former CNNer Greta Van Susteren jumped to arch-rival Fox News Channel and began beating Brown in head-to-head competition.
Brown, who joined CNN in 2001, rocketed to a prominent perch at the network thanks to his breathless coverage of the 9/11 terror attacks. Since then, however, he has repeatedly come under fire — especially behind the scenes by some co-workers who ripped his “big ego” yesterday.
Brown angered CNN brass in 2003 when he refused go on air during the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and opted instead to play out a round of celebrity golf.
Sources told The Post said Brown was offered a chance to be a regular contributor to CNN’s various programs, but turned down the offer, citing his “stardom.”
Industry sources believe Brown’s deal with provides for him to be paid even if he is off the air.
The Washington Post’s Lisa de Moraes….
Brown’s exit from CNN has been playing out in slow motion since November 2004, when Klein was named president of CNN/US. Almost immediately it became very apparent to the Reporters Who Cover Television that Klein was no fan of Brown’s and almost as quickly that he was gaga over Cooper.
“This decision is all about Anderson Cooper and ‘The Situation Room’ and the momentum generated in the past few months,” Klein told The TV Column, noting that Cooper, through his on-the-spot coverage of big news events, including the South Asian tsunami, the death of the pope, the politicization of Terri Schiavo and the debacle of Hurricane Katrina, has been “embraced by the audience in a way we could not ignore.”
“There were literally hundreds of TV journalists at these events — why is he the most talked about of them? That you can’t create. That happens because a reporter has got that magical something,” Klein said.
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Gail Shister…
Contrary to prevailing logic, Brown was not offered Cooper’s 7 p. m. time slot, CNN/U.S. president Jonathan Klein confirms. He wasn’t offered bupkis.
“We never got to the point of anything concrete… . I think when you’ve been in the business a while, as Aaron has, you can come to conclusions pretty quickly. He has a clear sense of what he wants to do, and we have a clear sense of what we want to do.”
In the new lineup, Wolf Blitzer’s Situation Room, now seen from 3 to 6 p. m., will run from 4 to 6, and 7 to 8. Lou Dobbs remains at 6, but his 11 p. m. repeat will move to the wee hours. Paula Zahn and Larry King stay at 8 and 9.
Brown’s departure was mutual, says a CNN rep, but don’t believe it. Cooper has been Klein’s golden boy since Klein joined the network in December.
The situation came to a head in early September, when Klein added Cooper to NewsNight and expanded the show to two hours. Brown went ballistic over the arranged marriage, CNN insiders say, but ratings improved.
Eric Deggans of the St. Petersberg Times…
As news spread Wednesday that Anderson Cooper had been enshrined as the new face of CNN, it became apparent there was a belated casualty of Hurricane Katrina: once-dominant anchor Aaron Brown.
After all, it was Katrina that gave Cooper, 38, a major news story to flex his reporting muscles before a nationwide audience. The deluge of news from Katrina’s aftermath - and the stellar reviews after Cooper challenged officials over tardy relief efforts - prompted the cable newschannel’s executives to make room for an expanded version of Brown’s 10 p.m. NewsNight show.
And the audience response to their exhaustive coverage convinced CNN/U.S. president Jonathan Klein that the outlet needed “tent pole” programming featuring a limited number of anchors over a large number of hours.
“If you’ve got, in a 24-hour day, 24 different shows, people will never understand what you’re doing,” said Klein. “One of our goals was simplification. So we’ve taken these two entities and used them as tent poles to build our entire prime time lineup around.”
CNN confirmed the worst-kept secret in TV news Wednesday, acknowledging Brown would step down Monday to make room for a two-hour, 10 p.m. weekday edition of Anderson Cooper 360, featuring the anchor’s trademark barrage of stories over a wide array of subjects. Wolf Blitzer’s The Situation Room also shifts, airing from 4-6 p.m. and 7-8 p.m. each weekday.
Well, gee, if NewsNight fell on hard times and was a ratings drag, why was it consistently the second highest-rate program in prime time??? Too bad the same couldn’t be said for AC360.
Comment by sam — November 3, 2005 @ 11:06 am
Yeah, seeing that 7pm isn’t prime time.
If it wasn’t AC replacing him it’d be someone else.
Comment by Terance — November 3, 2005 @ 11:28 am
Cooper can’t deliver the goods, and without somebody who can pull in big numbers, CNN will not get out of the already too deep hole they are in.
Comment by Steve — November 3, 2005 @ 11:34 am
CNn is falling apart and their leader does nothing but make big statements and fire good people. I thought Klein said that Aaron Brown is a great storyteller, and that’s what they do best, tell stories. Has that changed again? I can’t even keep up with everything he says.
Comment by anonymous — November 3, 2005 @ 12:00 pm
There is so much misinformation in all of the printed reports it’s outrageous.
Those who know the facts aren’t talking, those who think they have the facts are.
As someone who works in PR i would hope that Mr. Browns’ representatives would set the record straight or at least give their take on Kleins’ obvious B***s**T!!
I saw Anderson last night hosting a benefit in NYC at Cipriani’s, strange how no one could get ahold of him.
CNN has this policy of not allowing their “talent” to comment, they also haven’t had the balls to say word one on the air. That stinks!! Let’s hope Jack Cafferty comes up with something in his questions in TSR like “when is jon klein going to get the axe?”
Comment by anonymous — November 3, 2005 @ 1:13 pm
What if Klein got the axe? Would they bring someone in that was going to change things up? Or maybe put AB on for 3 hours straight? CNN has been left in the past, they never evolved, and tried to ride out a wave. You either change with the times or get left behind. Its not a hard to figure out where CNN is and why. How would you fix CNN, Mr. PR?? Give me some details, share the wisdom you possess!
Comment by Terance — November 3, 2005 @ 1:43 pm
Klein wouldn’t know news if it bit him on the butt at 5-second intervals. AC is a great REPORTER - so leave him out on assignment, where the verve and enthusiasm and the willingness to get a little dirty will serve everyone best. Behind a desk (whether standing or sitting), he’ll be like a pretty flower trapped in Lucite. His sort of presence is not what makes a great anchor.
I hope Brown turns up somewhere fairly soon, but I’m not counting on it. Real news programming is hard to find on the air these days. Maybe he’ll turn to the written word - he’s excellent at that.
Comment by bash — November 3, 2005 @ 3:05 pm
Mr. Brown was a great anchor. He will be missed!!!!!!!!!
Comment by Bob Boates — November 3, 2005 @ 4:28 pm
Aaron Brown will always be one of the greatest newsmen this country has ever known—–the best to you Mr. Brown
Comment by suanne pledger — November 3, 2005 @ 5:16 pm
Anderson Cooper is a reporter. Aaron Brown is an anchor. And now that he’s gone, I’ll have to find another place to get my news. He will be greatly missed.
Comment by Renee — November 3, 2005 @ 7:40 pm
Just out of curiosity, when’s the last time AB did any reporting from the field?
Comment by Terance — November 3, 2005 @ 8:09 pm
to terance; The last time AB reported “from the field” was Rome for the death of the Pope, before that it was the tsunami in Banda Aceh…same as AC only longer!
Comment by anonymous — November 3, 2005 @ 8:27 pm
thanks!
Comment by Terance — November 3, 2005 @ 8:47 pm
What a failure CNN has become in the last year! Which is why I tune to FOX for news. It’s sad that Brown is gone from CNN, he was the only one I watched. I hope he makes a comeback to ABC, perhaps as anchor of WNT? What a slap in the face that would be to Klein!
Comment by anonymous — November 4, 2005 @ 12:03 am
I find it interesting that Cooper can’t score a million viewers in any of his time slots unless there’s a hurricane or a death, yet Jonathan Klein has made him CNN’s savior. The media obviously likes Anderson, the viewers don’t seem to share the same taste cause if they did you’d see more than a million viewers in his audience, and they’re not there.
Comment by Roxxy — November 4, 2005 @ 9:27 am
Cooper is just a reality TV host. Brown is a journalist. Klein is out of his mind. Cooper is relaly like a circus barker..he’s Geraldo Rivera (ugh) with a better pedigree.
Comment by Cissy — November 4, 2005 @ 3:30 pm