So what’s the deal with CNN’s prime-time lineup?
For the past year-plus, CNN’s prime-time schedule has been unsettled.
It all started when Chris Cuomo was bounced from the network — and his coveted 9 p.m. Eastern slot — at the end of 2021. Then last October, Don Lemon was moved to mornings, opening up the 10 p.m. Eastern slot. Throughout it all, CNN has patched together a prime-time lineup following Anderson Cooper’s 8 p.m. Eastern show.
Cooper’s show was extended an hour, while Laura Coates and Alisyn Camerota have been sharing co-hosting duties at 10 p.m.
But CNN could have a real shakeup in store.
Max Tani’s latest media column for Semafor — “CNN is serious about getting into comedy” — reports that the news network is considering adding a comedian type to its prime-time lineup. Names that CNN executives have thought about include Bill Maher, Trevor Noah, Arsenio Hall and Jon Stewart. Tani wrote that Maher might be the most realistic prospect, while Hall is probably not. And, for now, Stewart has a deal with Apple. The idea, according to a Tani source, is a CNN version of John Oliver, who hosts a comedy-news show on HBO.
Rumors of such a show have been floating around for a while now, going back to when Chris Licht took over at CNN nearly a year ago. Licht is the former executive producer of Stephen Colbert’s late-night show at CBS.
Trying to tie a bit of comedy into news is certainly not a new idea. Samantha Bee used to have a show on TBS. Stewart and Noah both had successful runs with “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central. Oliver and Maher have had success on HBO. Late-night talk-show hosts, particularly Colbert and Seth Meyers, often dedicate large chunks of commentary to the latest political news.
And in what has been a rather surprise hit, Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld hosts an 11 p.m. Eastern show that takes a satirical approach to the news and typically draws more than 2 million viewers.
So you can see why CNN would at least mull over the idea of an offbeat news show.
In a lengthy profile about Licht in December written by The New York Times’ James B. Stewart, Licht said that CNN prime time is an “open canvas” and that the network was meeting and “throwing things against the wall, looking at off-the-beaten path opportunities.”
On one hand, trying something new might not be a bad idea for a network that has fallen behind Fox News and MSNBC in the prime-time ratings. Then again, it’s risky, too. As The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple wrote, “Perhaps a comedy-entertainment-sports figure could deliver on this ambition. Trouble is, such an experiment could also deliver a programming disaster. Consider a scenario in which said entertainer was on air at the moment that an overseas war broke out, or an earthquake struck, or some statesperson died. Watching the network scramble to switch back into hard-news mode — well, that would surely be entertaining.”
