When CNN Worldwide president Jim Walton made his annual appearance before Washington bureau staffers this month, he got an earful over the network’s decision to shave an hour off “The Situation Room” with Wolf Blitzer in favor of rising star Rick Sanchez and “Rick’s List,” his new two-hour show.Here's the solution: AN ALL FEMALE PRIME-TIME LINE-UP:
... at one point Howie Lutt, senior director for “The Situation Room,” stood up and asked the roughly 200 staffers assembled in the bureau to raise their hands if they respect him or Blitzer as a journalist, according to network sources.
Almost everyone assembled raised their hand for Blitzer; only a few showed similar support for Sanchez.
While that response could be taken as a slight to Sanchez, some staffers say it’s more a reflection of the general sense of anxiety as CNN tries to find a winning formula for an afternoon/early evening lineup that’s being soundly beaten by Fox News and prime-time programming that last year for the first time also finished behind MSNBC.
“There’s a lot of change here right now,” said John King, a key component of the new CNN strategy. In a few weeks, the former host of “State of the Union” will take the 7 p.m. time slot given up by Lou Dobbs, affirming CNN’s commitment to having only nonpartisan hosts in the evening hours, in contrast to Fox and MSNBC.
- 8-9PM: SOFT POWER TALK - WITH KIRSTEN POWERS, MICHELLE MALKIN, PEGGY NOONAN AND DONNA BRAZILE. ("THE VIEW", ONLY POLITICAL)
- 9-10PM: CAPITAL IDEAS - WITH MARIA BARTIROMO AND KATTY KAY - (WALL STREET MEETS FLEET STREET)
FAIR AND BALANCED - AND EASIER ON THE EYES THAN O'REILLY AND HANNITY!
- 10-11PM: EXECUTIVE SUITE - WITH MARIA SHRIVER AND CARLY FIORINA - (INTERVIEWS BY AND WITH POWER PLAYERS)
SERIOUSLY: IF I WAS REVAMPING THEIR SCHEDULE, THEN I'D GO FOR MORE DEBATE AND ALL WOMEN!
NEW TAGLINE : "BABES, BOOBS'N BARBS!"
1 comment:
I was actually just thinking how Cafferty is the only thing CNN has going for it. He's been good lately.
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