Will Ripley has been reassigned from Tokyo to Hong Kong. He has a good tour of the new HK bureau on his Instagram story today. Looks like a very nice and modern newsroom. The studio space definitely looks smaller than in the old building, but it's probably about the right size for how much airtime it gets.
It would be great to see him anchor again and fill-in for Kristie. The last time he was at the anchor desk was probably when he was at KUSA in Denver, and from what I remember, he was pretty good.
^ Thanks for the tip Charles, just saw his Instagram story and the newsroom looks really nice, fresh and modern. Too bad we can't see it on screen. The studio is BAD, but I guess it doesn't matter since it's on air only for 45 minutes. Wish CNN would at least use a newsroom feed as background on the newswalls in their studios.
It would be great to see him anchor again and fill-in for Kristie. The last time he was at the anchor desk was probably when he was at KUSA in Denver, and from what I remember, he was pretty good.
I think he may have done Early Start a couple of years ago for a day or two
A particularly bad half hour of CNN Today just now. Can't tell how much of it was down to Bianca and how much was choas behind the scenes but it was a mess.
They spent much of the half hour waiting for Macron to arrive at the White House only for Bianca to nearly hand over to the weather "where you are" when it actually happened. Bianca seemed to struggle to ad-lib too when Macron did arrive.
There was a real Ginny Buckley moment too where Bianca thought they were going to news about the royal baby first and then a story about Google only for it to turn out they were going to a break - full of awkward pauses too and an uncomfortable watch. Could have just been chaos behind the scenes but it didn't come across well on-screen.
Bianca seemed fine when sticking to the autocue but it was a bit deer in headlights otherwise. May well have just been a bad half hour I caught though.
I'll take Rosemary Church or Hala Gorani any day. Or Amara Walker, she seems particularly unflappable, Im sure Michael Holmes cant wait until she returns. What a mess.
I think Bianca is doing fine, she's very young and never anchored before. Working with Michael for a few months will be a great learning experience for her, just like it was for Amara and Lynda Kinkade occasionally.
I wonder what will they do with Bianca when Amara returns.
Jim Acosta anchoring The Situation Room is a breath of fresh air tonight. Fine, it's still all Trump politics heavy, but the show flows more naturally when presented straight - without all the unnecessary hype and melodrama Wolf brings.
Jim Acosta anchoring The Situation Room is a breath of fresh air tonight. Fine, it's still all Trump politics heavy, but the show flows more naturally when presented straight - without all the unnecessary hype and melodrama Wolf brings.
The show is certainly better when Wolf's not there - Briana Keilar is normally pretty good when she stands in.
The whole show is over the top though - the tacky headlines, the dramatic music. the show seemingly always beginning with breaking news and that's without getting to Wolf 'Stand By, Everyone' Blitzer and his emotionless, shouty delivery.
I mean as an example the absolute state of this TOTH - you want to lie down in a darkened room once it's finished.
I must admit I have some begrudging respect for the guy. A bit like Steve Wright, he's somehow managed to deliver basically the same show every day for years. In Wolf's case, since 2005, and the graphics and titles were even worse back then.
Sorry, not buying anything that you guys have said. Wolf Blitzer is no worse than any of the others on CNN, and frankly the graphics and music work with the style of the programme, and ultimately that's all you ask for. It's one thing to say the programme itself is a somewhat tabloid and style and over the top. Yes, it is, and the graphics and music are part of that, but more so the editorial agenda of the programme. The titles and graphics aren't bad, per se, they are over the top somewhat, but they work for the show.