CNN wants to launch its new morning show ahead of November’s midterm elections.
A spokesperson for the cable channel said Wednesday that its new morning program will be called CNN This Morning, and will launch on Nov. 1. If the name sounds somewhat familiar, it could ring a bell because of its similarity to CBS This Morning, the morning show that new CNN CEO Chris Licht helped launch a decade ago (that show was recently renamed CBS Mornings).
CNN This Morning will be anchored by Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow, and Kaitlan Collins, with Lemon giving up his primetime roost and Collins leaving the White House beat to join the show. Harlow had previously anchored an hour later in the morning.
The morning show is one of the first permanent lineup changes made by Licht, who promised that the show would be a “disruptor” in the space at Warner Bros. Discovery’s upfront in May.
The other major changes from Licht so far have been temporary in nature, with Jake Tapper taking over the 9 p.m. hour and Alisyn Camerota and Laura Coates anchoring from 10 p.m.-12 a.m. That lineup will continue through the midterms, though they are being viewed internally as potential tryout vehicles for Tapper, Camerota and Coates.
In both cases, CNN is banking on the expected increase in viewership that the midterm election will bring to drive awareness of the new programming, though whether viewers stick around after the news quiets down has always been an issue for CNN.
Source: Hollywood
