CNN shakes up lineup with new shows for Chris Wallace, Abby Phillip, more

NEW YORK — CNN is making dramatic changes to its lineup, announcing Monday that it was giving Abby Phillip and Laura Coates new weeknight shows and launching new weekend programs with Christiane Amanpour and Chris Wallace.

Virtually no daypart goes unchanged in the revamp, as the network struggles with ratings challenges worsened by the quickening pulse of people cutting the cord on cable television. The changes were a swift move from CNN’s new leadership team of Amy Entelis, David Leavy, Virginia Moseley and Eric Sherling. They replaced former CNN chief executive Chris Licht, who was fired this spring.

Phillip, a political correspondent, and Coates, a CNN legal analyst, will host back-to-back weeknight shows starting at 10 p.m. Eastern, under the plans. With Kaitlan Collins at 9 p.m. and Erin Burnett at 7 p.m., that gives CNN an evening schedule led by women, with the exception of Anderson Cooper’s hour at 8 p.m.

Wallace and Amanpour will both host live hours on Saturday morning. One of CNN's most recognizable veterans, Amanpour has hosted a program on the network's international network and been virtually invisible domestically the past decade. It will be a more topical hour for Wallace, who will head a live political panel show after hosting a wide-ranging interview show for HBO Max since his jump from Fox News.

Heading into the 2024 campaign, political correspondent Kasie Hunt will host “Early Start” at 5 a.m. on weekdays. Phil Mattingly will be a new co-host with Poppy Harlow on the three-hour “CNN This Morning” show.

In July, Fox News Channel and MSNBC — both dominated by opinion programming in the evening — averaged 1.57 million and 1.12 million viewers respectively in prime time. CNN averaged 534,000, according to the Nielsen company. The network's new leadership wanted to install program hosts with experience as reporters.

“They are extraordinarily talented and share the same CNN sensibility: versatility, determination and an inquisitive and empathetic approach to reporting the news,” the leaders said in a statement.

“King Charles,” a limited-run series with Gayle King and Charles Barkley, will air on Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. Eastern starting this fall, CNN announced.

The show was the centerpiece of Licht's prime-time strategy. He sought well-known personalities who could comment on the news and help CNN compete with more general-interest networks. But except for King and Barkley, the plans never came together and CNN is now abandoning that approach.

Capitol Hill correspondent Manu Raju will become the Sunday anchor of “Inside Politics,” under the new plans. Pamela Brown will anchor a weekday afternoon program, while Victor Blackwell has a new Saturday morning program. Alisyn Camerota will focus on long-form reporting.

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