CNN announced Wednesday a new primetime lineup, one
without Eliot Spitzer's In the
Arena.
Instead, Anderson Cooper 360
will move to 8 p.m. starting Aug. 8, and be re-broadcast at its former 10 p.m.
timeslot.Erin Burnett's new program will debut at 7 p.m. (with a re-air at 11
p.m.), bumping John King, U.S.A. to 6 p.m. Burnett's program is expected
to premiere in late September.
"I'm looking forward to the new time slot and am
excited to share AC360
with a new audience at 8 p.m., while still connecting with my regular viewers
at 10 p.m.," Cooper said in a statement.
The shift puts the network's star anchor in the lead
primetime hour, where Fox News has Bill O'Reilly and MSNBC has Lawrence
O'Donnell.
"8 o'clock is the marquee hour on cable news, and Anderson
Cooper is our flagship news program," CNN/U.S. Executive VP Ken Jautz told B&C.
"So it makes sense to put the flagship news program at the marquee hour. Eight
p.m. sort of states what you are as a network. AC360 itself embodies
what we see as CNN's strengths and its uniqueness."
The canceled In the Arena receives the axe after less than a year on the
air, after undergoing transformations in format that ultimately failed to
improve its ratings. The program originally debuted as Parker/Spitzer
last fall then shifted to a solo anchor roundtable format with co-host Kathleen
Parker's exit in February.
"We would like better ratings and share at 8 o'clock than
were being delivered," Jautz acknowledged.
The Situation Room with Wolf
Blitzer moves to 4-6 p.m. following CNN Newsroom, which will
now run from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Piers
Morgan Tonight will stay at its regular 9 p.m. slot, and re-air at
12 a.m.
Jautz says he is committed to the schedule of multiple
re-airs at hours when some cable networks feature original programming.
"We believe that this is a good lineup and it would
improve the flow from show to show," he said. "We think it's a lineup that
underscores what's important to CNN - a commitment to quality journalism."
Cooper will launch his syndicated daytime talk show, Anderson,
in September, but Jautz said that show's taping schedule was not a factor in AC360's
move to 8 p.m. Cooper has said Anderson will tape two shows a day, three
days a week to balance his responsibilities at CNN.
"We're not reacting to what someone else has done, we're
doing what we think is the strongest lineup and the best shows," Jautz said.
CNN's new full schedule is below:
CNN Fall Schedule (All times
Eastern):
6a-9 a.m.: American
Morning
9a-4 p.m.: CNN Newsroom
4 p.m.: Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer
6 p.m.: John King, USA
7 p.m.: Erin Burnett
8 p.m.: Anderson Cooper 360°
9 p.m.: Piers Morgan Tonight
10 p.m.: AC
360 re-air
11 p.m.: Erin
Burnett re-air
12 a.m.: Piers
Morgan Tonight re-air
