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Jan. 16 2023, Revealed 8:15 a.m. ET
CNN boss Chris Licht is reportedly considering whether or not to axe the struggling community’s present primetime lineup in favor of a comedic news-focused speak present, RadarOnline.com has discovered.
The event would mark Licht’s newest shakeup on the embattled information community since taking up as chairman and CEO in Could 2022 following Jeff Zucker’s fall from grace months earlier.
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Additionally shocking are experiences indicating Licht and different CNN executives are eyeing American comic and political commentator Jon Stewart to host the potential new program that may air from September 11 PM each weeknight.
Licht first hinted at his want to poach Stewart throughout an interview with the New York Instances final 12 months, though the brand new CNN boss confirmed Stewart had signed a multi-year contract with Apple in 2020.
In response to at the very least 5 community insiders, Licht and different CNN executives are additionally eyeing high-profile comedians comparable to Invoice Maher, Trevor Noah and Arsenio Corridor to host the potential September 11 PM program.
“They’re on the lookout for their model of John Oliver,” one insider advised Semafor over the weekend.
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In contrast to Stewart, Maher is already in-house at Warner Bros. Discovery – CNN’s dad or mum firm – through his long-running HBO program Actual Time with Invoice Maher.
Whereas Licht continues to eye potential skills to host a brand new primetime comedy present, the CNN boss has additionally reportedly pitched the community as a “potential gateway to different manufacturers” inside Warner Bros. Discovery – significantly HBO and Warner Brothers.
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One other community insider advised Semafor that Laura Coates – who at present hosts the 11 PM hour of CNN Tonight – will stay in her timeslot whereas Alisyn Camerota will focus solely on the ten PM program.
CNN’s rival networks have additionally not too long ago moved into the comedy panorama, with Fox Information launching Gutfeld! and NBCU reportedly contemplating shifting Late Night time with Seth Meyers to MSNBC.
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Different in style late-night packages, comparable to TBS’ Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, CBS’ The Late Late Present with James Corden, and Comedy Central’s The Day by day Present with Trevor Noah, have both ended or might be ending by spring 2023 – creating prime pickings for Licht if he decides to axe CNN’s present lineup in favor of a brand new comedy present.
Regardless of CNN’s plans, community insiders have urged Licht’s “experiment” may additionally change into a “programming catastrophe.”
“Such an experiment may additionally ship a programming catastrophe,” Erik Wemple of the Washington Put up wrote following experiences of Licht’s newest shakeup. “Think about a situation during which mentioned entertainer was on air for the time being that an abroad struggle broke out, or an earthquake struck, or some statesperson died.”
“Watching the community scramble to modify again into hard-news mode — properly, that may certainly be entertaining,” Wemple added.