CNN Unveils Big Schedule Overhaul

CNN announced some major changes to its lineup on Monday as the network’s new direction continues to take shape. According to a report by Deadline, the network will now kick off the day with Kasie Hunt anchoring Early Start. This will be followed CNN This Morning, now anchored by Poppy Harlow and Phil Mattingly. More changes hit the daytime and late-night lineups as well.

CNN has been in a transitional period for much of this year, and the changes aren’t stopping. The network will now hand over its 10 p.m. primetime slot to Abby Phillip for CNN NewsNight and its 11 p.m. slot to Laura Coates for Laura Coates Live. Coates’ show will be broadcast from Washington, D.C. Finally, the last big change to the weekday schedule is a new show called The Bulletin with Pamela Brown airing at 3 p.m. ET.

There are changes in store for the weekend coverage as well. Three new Saturday morning shows are reportedly coming soon hosted by Victor Blackwell, Chris Wallace and Christiane Amanpour respectively. Blackwell will kick things off at 8 a.m. with First of All with Victor Blackwell – an Atlanta-based show covering issues that affect people of color and their communities. The Chris Wallace Show will start at 10 a.m. and will feature a “provocative panel of some of the country’s best reporters and influential commentators” to discuss the 2024 election.

Amanpour’s self-titled show will start at 11 a.m. and will focus on international affairs. On Sunday mornings, Inside Politics will be hosted by Manu Raju, with a strong focus on congressional coverage. Finally, the network announced that Alisyn Camerota is not leaving the lineup although she will no longer be anchoring the 10 p.m. hour on weekdays. Instead, she will focus on long-form reporting, most notably developing pieces for the Sunday evening series The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper.

Perhaps more surprising is a plan that CNN is not changing. The network intends to move forward with the new series King Charles, which was first ordered when Chris Licht was the network head. King Charles will be a weekly limited series hosted by Charles Barkley and Gayle King. It is expected to debut in the fall and air on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET.

CNN underwent some drastic changes between February of 2022 and June of 2023 when Licht was its chairman and CEO. Many were not popular with journalists, and in June a profile in The Atlantic highlighted how unhappy many employees were under Licht. Shortly after it came out, he was terminated.

Most of these new shows are slated to premiere in the fall just as the rest of the TV industry will be grinding to a halt due to the cumulative effects of the Hollywood labor strikes. Before long, TV news may be one of the freshest things available to watch.