CNN International & Domestic

It's really amazing to see how he went from "that kid who introduced the iReports" to becoming a seasoned anchor and correspondent. Sad to see him leave CNN, but I'm glad he's going to CBS. That seems like a good fit, and I'm sure he'll be able to do a lot of great things there too.

I will miss Errol here in the U.S. on the overnight simulcast. I hope he gets to anchor on CBS Morning News/This Morning, CBSN and CBS Evening/Weekend News. Becoming a CBS News Washington correspondent is a huge deal but he is too good an anchor to not be at the desk occasionally. Perhaps as a replacement for Anthony Mason on the Saturday This Morning show as he seems to work non stop. (Sorry I got off topic). I would never have imagined I would ever say that 8 years ago when he first did Ireports. I cringed every time it would come on.

Someone reported seeing a tweet from John Vause that the CNNI Newsroom Los Angeles block has been extended one hour starting Tuesday (Midnight ET to 3 am ET). They don't know if it's temporary while Rosemary Church is away and they haven't replaced Errol Barnett or if it is a permanent change. I hope it's not permanent because I don't want them to reduce Rosemary's hours and I don't want more U.S. election coverage because that is all Newsroom LA is right now. Even though I live in the U.S. and welcome more CNNI on CNN I would think this is a horrible program for Europe/Middle East/Africa breakfast time and midday Asia. It must have been purely added for CNN domestic's benefit and a cost-saving as it can be spread across both channels. I hope this doesn't mean they are going to start to completely dismantle what is left of the CNNI Atlanta output. I enjoy Rosemary, Natalie, George.

Also, this doesn't really belong in the CNN International thread but I can't find any current CNN US or HLN threads to post to and am not quite sure it warrants a separate thread.

Erica Hill is rejoining the CNN family. She is reported to have left NBC News and will launch a newscast on HLN dayside this fall.

I wish she was joining CNN, not HLN. I wouldn't want them to put her on New Day, since obviously she is not what viewers want in the mornings. But I think they desperately need to make some dayside changes. They need to break up the monotony of their dayside programming which has become stale. Showcase Christine Romans, John Berman, Kate Bolduan, Jake Tapper, Erin Burnett (move her from primetime to discuss business news during the day time which she does well), take a few CNNI programs on simulcast and reduce the time that Carol Costello, Wolf and Brook Baldwin have solo anchoring. She could also join Anderson again which would be nice. I'm sure it won't happen as they were stupid enough to let Michaela go to HLN to launch a rival morning show which will probably get more viewers than their Newsroom block gets. But I digress. I will save the rest of that for another post.

Hill previously anchored on the old Headline News and then on AC360. She left CNN to host the last attempt to revive the CBS Early Show and then helped launch CBS This Morning with Charlie Rose and Gayle King before being booted for Norah O'Donnell. She then hosted NBC News Weekend Today with Lester Holt. When Lester left for Nightly News she lost favor with viewers evidently and was replaced by Stephanie Ruhle of Bloomberg. Her last role at NBC News was on MSNBC mornings where she was good at rolling news but I guess they didn't renew her contract.

So, just to repeat to CNN and HLN, DO NOT PUT HER ON A MORNING SHOW.

I can't see her being on in the mornings unless Robin Meade is going somewhere. Afternoons seem more likely.

It'll be interesting to see what their new daytime schedule looks like - sounds like they're making quite a few changes and bringing in some bigger names.

CNN didn't take long to get the DRAMATIC graphics out:



Also, Wolf Blitzer was called in to take over from the measured, calm and cautious reporting by Jake Tapper. Therefore the shooting quickly became a "Nightclub slaughter" and an ISIS-fest, including this bizarre interview with the former Afghan president:

Yeah, the sooner Wolf retires, the better. He's perfect if you want to get scared from someone speaking in monotone, but he is otherwise way past his prime. Let's hope he's off the air after the election.

Yes I suspect Wolf Blitzer will retire after the Election. Check the following out to see another side of the unsmiling monotone man.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MaiaIdjcK8

As a CNN Domestic viewer I long for the day when Wolf receives his token weekend public affairs show as they slowly put him out to pasture. The first thing must be to remove him as lead political anchor...that's what Jake Tapper is there for. Second, remove him as lead anchor for breaking news. I thought that is what Anderson Cooper is there for. The third thing is to dismantle the Situation Room. Let him keep his "Wolf" show if you must or some type of daily politics show. He was great at the Pentagon and White House but in the very late 90's once John King took over his beat and they tried him out at anchoring like on Late Edition, The World Today and gave him his own show "Wolf Blitzer Reports," it was clear to me that I would never like him as an anchor. He anchors like he is still standing on the north lawn of the White House. An anchor robot. He really was one of their early "personality" anchors, not put at the anchor desk because of his abilities, like a Bernard Shaw or Judy Woodruff. He was good on Sept. 11, for instance, but I remember when the anthrax attacks became a frenzy, he was constantly on and scary as hell.

The thing is, he has such a big ego that I don't see that happening lightly. He was on TV six days a week doing Late Edition and SitRoom. When he gave up Late Edition, what did they do? They gave him more airtime during the week and a best of Saturday edition of SitRoom. Whenever there's been a retooling of the prime access schedule on CNN Domestic or the schedule on CNNI, when the pieces fall, Wolf always still gets three hours a day plus an international simulcast, even if it's the awkward non-contiguous combination of "Wolf" and SitRoom as it currently is. His contract is clearly that powerful.

That man simply doesn't know when to quit while he's ahead.

But to end on a positive note — I agree, Jake Tapper is nothing short of excellent. I can't wait to see him take over full-time.

To begin on a positive note - they do have excellent rising talent.

The danger in Wolf staying too long and having that powerful contract is that rising talent are left to flail in the wind waiting it out. Whether it's Jake Tapper or John Berman being poached by another organization or Michaela Pereira going over to HLN there are only so many slots in the day when you combine the live news hours that are left with CNN Films. With the medium that they are in changing so rapidly even another few years could make all the difference. I can name countless anchors and correspondents at CNN US and International that are so deserving of their chance. I can also think of a slew of great talent that left because they were left hanging.

Another issue is that anchor/correspondent recruitment seems to have hit a ceiling since the initial expansion when Jeff Zucker first arrived, and they have done very little toward making advancements on having a more diverse anchor and correspondent roster.

Except for HLN, I can't think of any other anchor that gets three solo hours per weekday, excluding breaking news. CNN seemed to favor this format post-Sept. 11 for example, Paula Zahn had three morning hours, Bill Hemmer had three hours each afternoon, Aaron Brown had two at night.

CNN hasn't had this kind of loyalty with any other anchors since Bernard Shaw left (except for Anderson Cooper), so I don't know what it is about Wolf.

Unfortunately, he will probably be there until he wants to retire. He won't leave gracefully like Bernard Shaw did.

I can't imagine how infuriating it must be for so many anchors at CNN Domestic. I've lived here in the US for 4 years now and cannot count the amount of times he cuts into someone else's show and in all honestly not for what you'd deem breaking news or necessary.

I felt compelled to reply here after it happened again today. Ashley Banfield and Chris Cuomo both anchoring Legal View and they are taken off air so Wolf can cover Obama talking about National Security. Same thing yesterday - Brooke Baldwin was taken off air because Trump was speaking.

It's shocking and very annoying.