Yahoo News CNN Overhauls Lineup: Abby Phillip Takes 10 p.m., Laura Coates to Host 11 p.m., New Morning Show Hosts and Weekend Programs
In a dramatic overhaul of its programming schedule, CNN has announced new programs and anchors spanning weekday mornings, dayside and primetime, as well as new weekend programs led by veterans of the channel.
The new lineup will see CNN hand the 10 p.m. hour over to political correspondent and anchor Abby Phillip, with 11 p.m. being hosted by legal analyst and anchor Laura Coates.
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In the mornings, Kasie Hunt will anchor Early Start, while chief White House correspondent Phil Mattingly joins Poppy Harlow as the co-anchor of CNN This Morning. Chief investigative correspondent Pamela Brown will anchor a new dayside show out of the nation’s capital.
On the weekends, Victor Blackwell, Christiane Amanpour, Manu Raju and Chris Wallace will all host new programs, with Blackwell based in Atlanta, and Raju taking over the Sunday’s Inside Politics while continuing to cover Capitol Hill.
Wallace will host a panel show (in addition to his weekly interview program), while Amanpour brings her global coverage to CNN’s weekend lineup.
As part of the changes, Alisyn Camerota will shift to a new role doing longform reporting, mostly for the Sunday series The Whole Story With Anderson Cooper.
“One of CNN’s key differentiators is our deep roster of experienced journalists, reporters and storytellers. Many joined CNN early in their careers and have grown with the network throughout the years. They are extraordinarily talented and share the same CNN sensibility: versatility, determination and an inquisitive and empathetic approach to reporting the news,” said CNN worldwide’s leadership team of Amy Entelis, David Leavy, Virginia Moseley and Eric Sherling in a joint statement. “By expanding the range and depth of our programming lineup across multiple dayparts, we are strengthening our reporting excellence throughout the schedule, elevating our ability to tell great stories across platforms, and doubling down on CNN’s position as the most trusted name in news.”
The changes come after a tumultuous year for CNN, a year which saw declining ratings and the sudden departure of its CEO, Chris Licht. The company continues to look both externally and internally for possible successors.
The new interim leadership team has clearly been empowered to make changes, as the programming overhaul underscores. They have also added significant new hires, including Kayla Tausche as its senior White House correspondent.
At the same time, some of Licht’s signature moves remain on track. Kaitlan Collins will remain the 9 p.m. host after moving from the mornings to primetime in May, and the Gayle King-Charles Barkley program King Charles will launch as a limited series in the 9 p.m. slot later this fall.
The new primetime lineup is also significantly younger and more diverse than it had been, and than its primetime competitors, while CNN has opted to lean into some of its veteran marquee talent to anchor weekend programs that lean into their skill sets (Amanpour, despite being one of CNN’s best-known anchors, did not have a program on CNN’s lineup).
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