CNN International & Domestic

Exactly and while some of those sections without international content may be ‘off peak’ in say Europe they’ll be primetime elsewhere. 5am-9am ET in America is primetime in much of Asia. And overnights in Europe are morning in much of Asia and some of the Middle East.

I did chuckle a bit at the (valid) complaints about Sky News repeating their COVID programme a bit over the weekend and at one stage there only being one bulletin between 9pm and 2am GMT. On Sky that sort of thing is very the exception - whereas any CNNI viewers are well used to it. Who doesn’t want the 100th repeat of Inside Africa, Supercharged or Living Golf?

OK, so we agree: CNNI was different years ago, has changed to more domestic, but it's not a mere copy of CNN domestic.

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Yeah what Wilmington said.

Well hold my cup of CNN complaints, CNN International has stayed on to show the Downing St presser.

No one's disagreeing with you that CNN has changed. I think the debating point is whether we prefer CNN's international or domestic content. It's an interesting debate, and one CNN is grappling with at the moment. No easy answer, especially with financial pressures as the world pivots away from cable and broadcast TV and into streaming.

Personally, I think CNNI is at its best when it's covering a mixture of international stories, including US politics. I find CNN most frustrating when it focuses on US politics around the clock. At the moment I'm finding myself watching an hour or so of CNNI Newsroom, QMB when it's on and changing to BBC World News for any other world news I feel I need.

I used to get most of my world news from CNN and I didn't mind an hour or so of domestic sandwiched between international shows. But it's not really an international network when you find that the international shows are sandwiched between the US shows!

I’d just like to see them bring back the sidelined talent and close the gaps between CNNi blocks.

Because I’m bored, here’s a semi-realistic schedule that I wouldn’t mind seeing come to life (comments always welcome):

(0000-0700 ET unchanged [with World Sport at 0045 and 0345])
0700: CNN Business Today with Christine Romans
0745: Marketplace/Featured Programming
0800: CNN Newsroom with Max Foster
0945: World Sport with Amanda Davies
1000: Connect the World
1145: Featured Programming
1200: The Brief
1245: World Sport
1300: Gorani Tonight
1400: Amanpour & Co.
1500: Quest Means Business
1600: Your World Today
1730: World Sport with Don Riddell
(1800-2200 unchanged)
2200: Global Edition with Amara Walker
2245: World Sport
2300: CNN Business Today with Andrew Stevens
2330: Featured Programming

CNNi will be back to normal as soon as this vaccine allows. The London bureau will be back online as soon as enough people are vaccinated and at the rate that roll out that is going in London, I'm positive it'll be sooner rather than later.

Most of that programming listed above, would be broadcast by CNN London so I believe the logic behind my thinking is correct.

The next Domestic shake up is nigh, with Acosta's Weekend show to be announced, The Lead to be extended to two hours, Keilar's move to New Day and Camerota's move to daytime.

What shows will be simulcast, my bets are on it returning to something like the following with only 6 hours of Domestic programming required to complete CNNi's own output.

All times are GMT

11am-12am GMT - New Day (1st hour)

9pm - 10pm - The Lead

11pm - Midnight - The Situation Room

1am - 2am - A360

2am - 3am - Cuomo Prime Time

4am - 5am - Tonight

NOTE: Domestic anchors such as Tapper, King and Camerota are now household names globally so I may well be totally off. But in an ideal world and to please us that need CNNi to return to some sort of normality, I reckon it's a fair enough forecast on things.

Can anyone recall what the CNNi Schedule looked like pre March. Let's try pick a normal new day.

IIRC pre pandemic you’d have the following (UK times) - otherwise as it is currently.

9am - First hour of Early Start simulcast (rather than second hour as it is now)
10am - Amanpour repeat
11am - First two hours of New Day
Max had a half hour Newsroom bulletin at 1pm before World Sport (I believe that World Sport edition has now returned). Max's half hour is now additional simulcast of New Day.
5pm- You had ‘The Express’ which was another business show and would be hosted by Richard Quest or other business anchor with a 15 or 30 minute canned program at the end of the hour
6pm - Amanpour was normally at this time and moved to 7pm once the pandemic hit
7pm - Hala’s show.
10pm - The Brief with Bianca followed by half hour World Sport bulletin. A better ‘News At 10’ that the actual BBC/ITV current iterations IMO.

11pm - Your World Today with Cyril and Isa. Though it was often pre-empted for The Situation Room. It was a rarity to have YWT on for the full week. Looking back even in Week 1 it was pre-empted which with hindsight was pretty ominous.

I'm guessing CNN must be pretty skeleton crew in Hong Kong otherwise if the London studios were out of action, it might've made sense to have Hong Kong anchor some of the Atlanta overnight output (Kristie and Anna are both experienced anchors) and use Atlanta on one or two of the London shows (since that studio is in use).

There have been complaints about the current schedule - but in my mind late nights are still an improvement on what it was for quite a few years where rather than airing CNN Today or Situation Room (both live) the EMEA version of CNNI instead aired repeats of Amanpour and the inane State of America programme and several World Sport bulletins. They were going out of their way around then NOT to air a news programme

I wonder if John King's popularity here means that they stick with Inside Politics going forward in the international schedule and just keep Quest Means Business. The Situation Room is now a permanent fixture on CNNi so I can at most see them move Cyril and Isa to 10pm but maybe that will then become a 30 min show with World Sport at 10:30pm. The press release about the Washington changes didn't state that The Lead would be shown in full on International so maybe YWT could slot in the 2nd hour of The Lead. Again, I can't see the point of having World Sport at 1:30pm and 3:45pm when not much is happening between when the two editions air. I think the US simulcast from The Situation Room to CNN Tonight is hear to stay for the full duration.

Brooke Baldwin leaving in April:

CNN's @BrookeBaldwin just told viewers that she "will be leaving CNN in April."

— Michael M. Grynbaum (@grynbaum) February 16, 2021

Whoooooooooooa... this is a shock. Kinda. I will miss her show.

Video of her dramatic announcement:

1. I want to start with some personal news❤️ 📺 I will be leaving @CNN in April. I came to this network as a freelancer in 2008. I scribbled my name on a post it and stuck it outside a temporary office determined to fulfill my dream of becoming a full-time correspondent at CNN. pic.twitter.com/v4zeG5XMQX

— Brooke Baldwin (@BrookeBaldwin) February 16, 2021