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CNN is undergoing major changes since new ownership has taken the reigns and that trend is continuing.
Starting on October 10 a new lineup, featuring some familiar faces in new timeslots, will hit the airwaves, Mediaite reported.
The most notable move shifts Jake Tapper into prime time. He’ll anchor the 9 p.m. slot, immediately following Anderson Cooper. The move will last through Nov. 11 — giving CNN a major new presence in the prime time hours right through the election.
John Berman and Brianna Keilar — who the network recently announced would be wrapping up their tenure as hosts of CNN’s morning show New Day — will hold down Tapper’s current time slot of 4 p.m. However, they will only host one hour, as opposed to Tapper’s customary two. The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer will expand and air from 5-7 p.m., according to the network.
And another face familiar to CNN midday viewers will be temporarily headed to prime time. Alisyn Camerota will co-anchor with Laura Coates in the 10-12 p.m. slot currently being held down by Don Lemon. Lemon, the network said, will begin his preparation to host CNN’s new morning show, which will start later this year. Poppy Harlow will likewise sign off on that day as well, leaving her 9-11 a.m. slot co-anchoring with Jim Sciutto temporarily vacant.
The changes comes after Don Lemon was removed from his evening show to host a new morning show and around a month after Brian Stelter departed the network.
In August, Stelter warned his colleagues that more changes to the network were coming.
He had his final episode of “Reliable Sources” last month as he lauded how important his CNN show was.
“I love this show,” he said. “This small but mighty show punched above its weight for so many years. Even a former president commented on the cancellation. Reliable sources has been a one of a kind show, and a popular show. This is one of CNN’s highest rated weekend shows,” the host said.
He said that his show was “part of journalism school curriculum” and that is why his show’s legacy will continue.
“The thing about TV is that it’s ephemeral, right?” he said. “It’s fleeting. It evaporates up into the air, and a lot of it is not even meant to be remembered. But this program transcended that.”
“CNN has a new owner. Warner Brothers Discovery is making big changes across the company,” he said.
But later in the show he spoke to Claire Atkinson, the chief media correspondent for Insider, who mentioned John Malone, a major Warner Bros. Discovery shareholder and asked if he was responsible for Stelter’s show getting cancelled.
“I think that’s a good question that people are asking: Is John Malone responsible for axing your show?” she said. “I don’t know the answer to that. I think people might suspect it’s political. He’s a libertarian who believes in not paying taxes if he can avoid it … He said he’s not directly not involved. That’s an interesting quote. But then, I think he’s a businessman. He’s looking at where the money is, where the audience is. And the viewership on the left is split between CNN and MSNBC, and the viewership on the right is all at Fox News. They have a bigger audience, lots of money, and perhaps he’s saying, ‘You know what, if we shift a little bit this way, maybe we’ll get that, too.’”
“There definitely will be more change,” the host said, in what could be a warning to others at CNN.
And he struggled to not cry at the end of the show.
Brian Stelter struggling to hold back tears as he ends his last broadcast pic.twitter.com/mv7Hpav2AL
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) August 21, 2022
President Donald Trump laid the smackdown on a man who became a former CNN host.
After news broke of Brian Stelter, a major Trump critic, being gone from CNN, the former president celebrated on Truth Social.
“Brian Stelter of Fake News CNN got fired because he lied, and lied, and lied – ABOUT ME. May he REST IN PEACE!” the former president said.
