CNN changes…
Variety’s Michael Learmonth writes about possible changes coming to CNN’s evening and primetime schedule…
CNN is weighing a shakeup to primetime that would see the low-rated “Paula Zahn Now” replaced by “Lou Dobbs Tonight” at 8 p.m. EST.
CNN is also said to be considering NBC’s Campbell Brown for the 8 p.m. slot, the most competitive in cable news, with Fox’s Bill O’Reilly and MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann both outrating CNN during the hour. Brown’s contract with NBC expires in August, but the “Weekend Today” anchor has drawn strong interest from CNN to anchor a primetime show.
I don’t think Campbell Brown can solve CNN’s problems at 8pm. But, she would probably get better numbers than Zahn. You have to realize its going to take time for the people who’ve purposely avoided CNN at 8pm to return…. On the other hand, Dobbs at 8pm sounds very interesting. And this seems like a much better choice.
Comment by Terance — June 15, 2007 @ 3:51 pm
When does Paula Z’s. contract expire?
Moving Dobb’s to the 8 pm time slot would be a good
idea in my opinion..
Comment by A.M. — June 15, 2007 @ 3:52 pm
AM, I think its in December.
Comment by Terance — June 15, 2007 @ 3:53 pm
Thanks for the info, Terance.
If they do move Dobb’s to 8 pm, then they should bring
John Robert’s up to the 6 pm news hour..imho
Comment by A.M. — June 15, 2007 @ 4:10 pm
Cambell Brown could replace Kiran Chetry.
That will be a plus for Cnn ratings
Comment by Peggy C — June 15, 2007 @ 5:37 pm
I think Lou at 8 is CNN best shot but that will leave a gap at 6pm hour that i’m not sure anybody will be able to fill; Lou has done really well in that timeslot- he frequently gets over 800,000 total viewers (sometimes as much as 1,000,000) and he has occasionally beat Brit Hume in the Demo. Plus there might be an overlapp between Lou Dobbs and BO viewers.
Capbell Brown is ok, she can robably do a bit better than PZ but putting her in that Timeslot will only help so much then no more.
Comment by Sam — June 15, 2007 @ 5:48 pm
I can’t imagine it’s good for Campbell to move from network to cable TV.
I’m sure she is a nice woman, but there’s no way she can compete at 8 p.m. ET. The left has their hero, and moderates/conservatives have ours, and I can’t see either group jumping ship at this time.
And speaking of 8 p.m. ET, maybe Dobbs could work. But those of us who are O’Reilly fans would probably just watch his repeat at 11 p.m. ET. (I know we could record O’Reilly and/or Dobbs, but does anyone actually get around to watch what they record? I rarely do, although maybe I’m in the minority on this.)
Regarding Campbell, maybe she could work the morning shift (as Peggy noted, above), or maybe act as a news anchor at some point during the day/prime time. But again, I just can’t see her taking audience from O’Reilly. Olbermann, maybe, but who knows?
Comment by Missy — June 15, 2007 @ 6:32 pm
Why does everyone always pick on Kiran?
If there’s a problem with American Morning, I believe it
lies in the oddity of teaming Kiran with JR.
I’ve been a huge fan of Kiran’s since the first time I
saw her give a news update on FOX..She’s got it, folks., I can’t explain exactly what that is, but I know, “got it” when I see it!
It’s up to the producers at CNN to figure the rest out.
Comment by A.M. — June 15, 2007 @ 6:42 pm
Myself and four other people in the country are sad to see Paula Zahn Now coming to an end.
Comment by lightswitch — June 15, 2007 @ 6:46 pm
AM needs Roberts ‘cause the show is heavy on politics and he knows about that stuff. Can you imagine leaving the meaty political issues for Chet to explain? She just wants to have fun, forget the politics!
Comment by california dreamin — June 15, 2007 @ 6:47 pm
I’d be very sad if Brown ends up taking Paula’s spot…I definitely won’t be watching. Paula is an excellent reporter, but the format CNN has shoved her in doesn’t allow her to flourish (especially when they push racism stories down our throat every time). I noticed that for the past 3 Fridays, CNN has been pre-empting PZN for taped stuff…I guess that must be a sign?
Comment by Anonymous — June 15, 2007 @ 6:53 pm
Probably because Kiran just seems dumb in comparison to Roberts for starters. One morning I was watching and Roberts said something and she was said, “Really?” and while I can’t remember what they were talking about now, the subject was pretty common knowledge if you watch more than an hour of cable t.v. a day. Anyway, Roberts gave her a look and then a reply that indicated he believed she was an idiot. Chemistry they lack, big time. That being said, while I like Campbell Brown a lot, I never did warm up to her as co-host on Weekend Today. There’s just an “X” factor missing there with her, it’s nothing I can quite name, but there’s something lacking. Leave it to CNN to hire another networks cast-offs though.
Comment by Alison — June 15, 2007 @ 8:04 pm
Lightswitch, I guess I’m one of those four people, I kinda liked to have something else to watch other than Nancy Grace yelling at someone, Olbermann, or O’Reilly.
Comment by Chris — June 15, 2007 @ 8:21 pm
Campbell Brown will fail miserably in a night spot.
She will do excellent in the morning
Her real name is Alma Dale she is from Mississippi,her husband Daniel Senor (extreme righ) still works for Fox.
Comment by Peggy C — June 15, 2007 @ 9:28 pm
I’ve always thought the the problem with “Paula Zahn Now” has less to do with Paul Zahn herself than the content of the show. It seems that devoting one hour to a specific topic (which is not always the case, but has been the rule rather than the exception…such as “race in America”) isn’t drawing the ratings at that timeslot. It seems that people would tune in at the start and if they don’t have much interest in the topic of the evening will move on.
I think the same goes with Anderon Cooper 360. I used to watch CNN at 10pm when they had Aaron Brown covering the major news of the day (sort of like an hour long network news broadcast) but when they went with Cooper it turned, over time, to exposes about the rain forest and such. Again, I think it has less to do with Cooper and more with content.
I like the idea of moving Lou Dobbs to the 8pm from the strategic standpoint of boosting ratings. Dobbs show has a niche audience - you know he’ll cover general news in the first segment and the rest of the show is immigration/outsourcing/the trade deficit and so on. You know what you’ll be getting but, judging by the ratings, he has a sizable audience that I think is loyal and would follow him. I don’t think he would catch O’Reilly, but I think he would beat Olbermann. At the least, he couldn’t do any worse than Paula Zahn Now is doing.
Comment by FishOil — June 16, 2007 @ 5:52 am
I miss Paul Zahn. She was one of the very few female newspeople who had a well-modulated speaking voice. So many of the others don’t know how to speak, and some of them are too nasal. I wish they could have classes for women on how to speak with a low, well-modulated voice instead of what’s happening now. I find most female commentators absolutely irritating. Paula was one of the very few exceptions. I do miss that golden voice of hers.
Another one is Diane Sawyer. What a speaking voice! Wonderful!
Comment by Grammarian — September 21, 2007 @ 1:35 pm