EXCLUSIVE: CNN CEO Mark Thompson To Overhaul Schedule in Bid to Boost Ratings
Network Faces Lowest Ratings in Decades, CEO Thompson Under Pressure to Turn Things Around
In an attempt to win back many of their lost viewers, CNN's CEO Mark Thompson will be completely revamping the network's schedule in August. Well-placed sources within the struggling network have told me that Abby Phillip, Kaitlan Collins, Laura Coates, and Erin Burnett will all LOSE their primetime shows and be moved to daytime and weekend time slots. Jake Tapper will also be moved to 10 PM, with Kasie Hunt replacing him in his current time slot at 4 PM. Only Anderson Cooper will remain in his current time slot. No decision has been made on whether to move Wolf Blitzer from the 6 PM hour.
There are also indications that Thompson is considering the recruitment of seasoned British journalist Andrew Neil. Neil, who departed the BBC in the UK to join the right-wing network GB News, left the network in tears after only two weeks in 2021. He is notably recognized for his contentious viral interview with Ben Shapiro in 2019.
Despite speculation, it is understood that Thompson has no intention of rehiring Chris Cuomo, the popular host currently at NewsNation.
The recent ratings slump, which has seen CNN plummet to its lowest viewership since 1991, with a growing exodus of viewers to competitors like Fox News and MSNBC, has left Warner Brothers Discovery CEO David Zaslav deeply frustrated. Despite Thompson's focus on a digital transformation for the network, Zaslav has urged him to implement significant changes to take advantage of the upcoming election, a period that typically sees a surge in viewership for news networks.
"Mark's been feeling the pressure from Zaslav lately and needs to do something. This will be his statement. Whilst he believes that the future is online, cable still generates the majority of our revenue, and he needs to act," said our source.