More major changes are coming to CNN as the network has announced a change to its host schedule.
On Thursday the network announced the changes that will begin on October 10, with anchor Jake Tapper moving into the 9 PM slot formerly held by Chris Cuomo, CNN reported.
The change is set to last until November 11, after the midterm elections.
“The world has come to rely on Jake’s no-nonsense approach to covering the news, especially during high-stakes election cycles,” CNN CEO Chris Licht said.
He said that the change is intended to showcase Tapper’s “tough reporting, smart analysis and consequential interviews as our audiences navigate the myriad of issues at stake in the midterms.”
The decision about who Licht would put in the all-important 9 p.m. time slot has been highly anticipated. Licht, who has started to put his stamp on CNN’s television programming after becoming head of CNN in May, inherited a network with a hole in its primetime lineup after former anchor Chris Cuomo was fired by his predecessor in December.
The announcement about Tapper was accompanied by a slew of other major programming changes.
Alisyn Camerota, co-anchor of “CNN Newsroom” in the afternoons, and Laura Coates, senior legal analyst, will anchor from 10 p.m. to midnight through the midterm elections, CNN said.
That time slot will be vacated soon by Don Lemon, who CNN announced earlier this month would move earlier in the lineup to co-anchor the network’s marquee morning show. CNN said Lemon will sign off his primetime program on October 7 to prepare for the new show.
Licht said he believed “by adding the insights, experience and strong voices” of Camerota and Coates, CNN would expand on Tapper’s hard-hitting coverage and create “something complimentary and compelling in primetime.”
Other changes include moving “New Day” hosts John Berman and Brianna Keilar to Tapper’s current 4 PM time and adding an hour to Wolf Blitzer’s show.
In its most recent earthquake to the network, CNN host Don Lemon has lost his primetime show and will be moved to mornings as part of a host team as the current morning show “New Day” is being canceled, The Wrap reported.
Don Lemon will lose his primetime CNN show on weeknights to co-anchor the network’s reimagined morning show with Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins, the network announced Thursday.
The new morning show will debut later in the year with a new name, format, and set — and signals the end of “Don Lemon Tonight” after an eight-year run. CNN did not announce any plans for how it will fill Lemon’s primetime slot, which has long lagged behind Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” in the ratings.
John Berman and Brianna Keilar, who currently anchor the network’s ratings-challenged “New Day,” will shift to other roles at CNN later in the year.
It has been a time of change with the new ownership at CNN and it has affected more than Don Lemon.
Mere hours after he praised President Joe Biden’s anti-MAGA Republican speech, CNN White House Correspondent John Harwood was gone from the news network.
CNN has been undergoing changes with the idea of getting to a more centrist news style and away from partisan leaning, and that has meant that some CNN personalities have to go.
Neither the network nor Harwood said if he was fired, quit or it was a mutual decision, but the timing had many wondering if his praise of President Biden’s divisive speech was the cause.
Harwood said in a tweet, “personal news: today’s my last day at CNN proud of the work thanks to my colleagues i’ve been lucky to serve the best in American media – St. Petersburg Times, WSJ, NYT, the NBC family, CNN look forward to figuring out what’s next.”
personal news:
today's my last day at CNN
proud of the work
thanks to my colleagues
i've been lucky to serve the best in American media – St. Petersburg Times, WSJ, NYT, the NBC family, CNN
look forward to figuring out what's next
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) September 2, 2022
It came hours after Harwood made his opinion known on President Biden’s speech when he appeared on the CNN show “New Day.”
“The core point he made in that political speech about a threat to democracy is true. Now, that’s something that’s not easy for us, as journalists, to say. We’re brought up to believe there’s two different political parties with different points of view and we don’t take sides in honest disagreements between them. But that’s not what we’re talking about,” he said.
“These are not honest disagreements. The Republican Party right now is led by a dishonest demagogue. Many, many Republicans are rallying behind his lies about the 2020 election and other things as well. And a significant portion—or a sufficient portion—of the constituency that they’re leading attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, violently. By offering pardons or suggesting pardons for those people who violently attacked the Capitol, which you’ve been pointing out numerous times this morning, Donald Trump made Joe Biden’s point for him,” he said.
Before announcing that today was his last day, John Harwood appeared on CNN three times this morning. During one appearance, apparently knowing it was his last day, he told viewers that Biden's "core point" about a MAGA "threat to democracy is true."https://t.co/tRuw2ZkfxB pic.twitter.com/VN24SZOZKc
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) September 2, 2022
Before that, he agreed with the premise of President Biden’s speech on Twitter.
Biden's assertion that Trump and extremist Republicans pose a threat to American democracy is, undeniably, true
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) September 2, 2022
“Biden’s assertion that Trump and extremist Republicans pose a threat to American democracy is, undeniably, true,” he said.
sorry cnn. it will take a long time to regain any trust.
Alyson really biased, surprised she’s still there.
Jake Tapper is another CNN cloaca.