CNN changes possible - Paula Zahn out, Lou Dobbs later

[jal41]

http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2007/06/15/0615bizcnn.html

Paula Zahn may be getting the boot from CNN, and Lou Dobbs may move to her time slot (8 PM ET). Paula's show is fourth place (O'Reilly 1st, Olbermann and Grace in and out for 2nd and 3rd).

Here is an idea...move Nancy Grace to CNN, and kill off Headline News.

 

[pabsungenis]

Or make Headline News what it was supposed to be: headlines. 30 minute newscasts all day and night, tune in any time for the latest.

 

[CanadaRadioDude]

Uh... yeah. The 30 minute news wheel is dead... on trial for its murder, the internet. The fact is people don't need a headline news service anymore.

I do believe that they should pick a direction and run with it on HN, however. A smart move might be to move all opinion-based programming from CNN to HN and relaunch as a talk/opinion/commentary oriented channel, and let CNN focus on live news (a la 'Newsroom'), current affairs, and documentaries.

 

[Mark Giardina]

Or make Headline News what it was supposed to be: headlines. 30 minute newscasts all day and night, tune in any time for the latest.

That was the original concept of CNN Headline News; offering 30 minute news, sports and weather. What happened to that concept is anyone’s guess. Apparently some programming genius decided to drop the news at night and feature entertainment reports along with radio talk show hosts.

As someone who worked in radio for three decades full-time, I’ve always got a kick when TV has to resort to hiring someone from radio in order to fill out their daily programming schedule.

Meanwhile getting back to HN, I agree it would be nice to have CNN go back to its original concept. Unfortunately that’s not going to happen as long as the current powers-to-be maintain control of that operation.

 

[imhomerjay]

To echo CanadaRadioDude, the "original concept" was born a generation ago, and while it had a good niche to fill at the time, the cries to "do it the way it was always done" don't pay the bills anymore.

Whether or not the talk shows represent a good solution remains to be seen, but for sure the old status quo needs to change somehow.

 

[genius]

Interesting that they let Zahn go considering not to long ago they were still pimping over her reporting on September 11th, her first day at CNN(and breaching her non-compete clause). I wonder where she'll go next. She burnt her bridges with Fox News, maybe she'll go back to CBS and rejoin with Harry Smith. Just speculation.

 

[The Voice of Reason]

Interesting that they let Zahn go considering not to long ago they were still pimping over her reporting on September 11th, her first day at CNN(and breaching her non-compete clause). I wonder where she'll go next. She burnt her bridges with Fox News, maybe she'll go back to CBS and rejoin with Harry Smith. Just speculation.

Perhaps Zahn will end up on satellite radio, or some top market TV station, but not another network; unless MSNBC tries her out for the old Imus spot weekday mornings.