CNN is continuing with a wide range of programming changes by moving its prime-time news commentator Don Lemon to the morning time slot.
The move will see Lemon and two other CNN journalists — anchor Poppy Harlow and White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins — host a new morning show that has yet to be named, with a debut date sometime later this year.
The network said Lemon’s prime-time news and commentary program “Don Lemon Tonight” will end as a result of the programming shuffle. CNN’s current morning show, “New Day,” will also end, and the hosts of that show — John Berman and Brianna Keilar — will move to new roles at the network later this year.
The changes come as CNN President Christopher Licht aims to move the network in a less-partisan direction. While the network and its ratings flourished through its coverage of former President Donald Trump and his numerous White House scandals, a more-tepid administration has caused ratings to fall and viewers to look elsewhere for their news.
Licht, who took over following the departure of former CNN President Jeffrey Zucker earlier this year, wants CNN to return to its roots as a non-partisan journalistic institution. One of his earliest edicts was to end the overuse of “Breaking News” lower-third graphics on CNN’s programs.
“Its impact has become lost on the audience,” Licht wrote in a memo distributed among CNN’s staffers, adding that the network should be in the business of “informing, not alarming, our viewers.”
Numerous on-air talent have departed as part of Licht’s new strategy, including media watchdog commentator Brian Stelter, whose program “Reliable Sources” was canceled. John Harwood, CNN’s White House correspondent, resigned earlier this month after two years with the network.
CNN is owned and operated by Warner Bros Discovery, a new company that was formed out of the merger of AT&T’s WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc. earlier this year.
