Alisyn Camerota will no longer be hosting CNN at 10 PM, just two weeks after a scandal involving her and former network president Jeff Zucker.
Camerota will be replaced by senior political correspondent Abby Phillip in the most recent CNN restructuring since Zucker left the network in February 2022.
Phillip, who previously presided over CNN’s Inside Politics Sunday, will succeed Camerota as host of the weeknight 10 p.m. primetime hour.
“Meanwhile, network chief legal analyst Laura Coates will reportedly anchor CNN’s 11 PM hour. Both Phillip and Coates will take over for Camerota’s CNN Tonight which aired every weeknight from 10 PM to midnight, according to the New York Times,” Radar Online reported.
“CNN announced today a broad programming schedule that includes new anchors for the morning, dayside, primetime and weekend dayparts. The new lineup showcases the breadth and depth of CNN’s journalism, with shows anchored by some of the network’s most celebrated journalists alongside new opportunities for some of CNN’s most enterprising next generation talent,” CNN announced in a press release.
“One of CNN’s key differentiators is our deep roster of experienced journalists, reporters and storytellers. Many joined CNN early in their careers and have grown with the network throughout the years. They are extraordinarily talented and share the same CNN sensibility: versatility, determination and an inquisitive and empathetic approach to reporting the news. By expanding the range and depth of our programming lineup across multiple dayparts, we are strengthening our reporting excellence throughout the schedule, elevating our ability to tell great stories across platforms, and doubling down on CNN’s position as the most trusted name in news,” said CNN Worldwide’s leadership team, Amy Entelis, David Leavy, Virginia Moseley and Eric Sherling.
Over the weekend, a longtime CNN anchor who spent more nearly two-and-a-half decades at the struggling network announced her departure as ratings continue to slump.
Christine Romans, the longtime anchor of CNN’s “Early Start” and its chief business correspondent, called it quits late last month, according to the New York Daily News.
“During Friday’s on-air sendoff, she announced that she will leave the cable news channel after nearly a quarter of a century, with that day being her last,” the outlet reported.
Romans told her viewers, “I’ve decided it’s time for a new chapter,” adding that though she’s “moving on from CNN, [she] will still be watching.”
“It has been a pleasure waking up early for you for so many years to get your morning started,” she continued. “I love CNN dearly. I have loved my 24-year run here … I am full of gratitude for my CNN family. It is a family. Everybody here are my friends. And I am excited for the challenges ahead.”
The Hollywood Reporter noted that Romans just recently made the decision to leave and had no plans to join a rival network, but that remains to be seen.
For the time being, the 5 a.m. EDT news show will remain in the programming lineup with “a rotating array of anchors until making a permanent decision about assigning talent to the show,” Variety reported.
“It’s impossible to sum up 24 wonderful and transformative years at CNN, but here it goes: five elections, a dot-com boom and bust, 9/11, a housing bubble and financial crisis, and a global pandemic,” Romans said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “Oh… and a wedding, three baby boys, three books, and 10 years of 3 a.m. wake-up calls!”
“I’ve climbed the mountain and it’s time for me to climb a new one,” Romans, who is the author of “Smart Is the New Rich Money Guide for Millennials,” went on. “But I’m forever grateful to have worked alongside some of the most talented journalists in the business.”
Her departure comes at a time when CNN continues to struggle to gain traction with viewers. While left-wing rival MSNBC gained viewers over the summer, CNN did not, shedding “21% of its 25-to-54 viewers in May,” The Street reported.
For its part, CNN appears to be working to shed its left-wing image. In recent weeks, hosts and guests have been more critical of Democrats and even have offered some measure of support to former President Donald Trump.
For instance, earlier this month, a legal analyst at the network took Trump’s side in a case handed down by a judge in Georgia pertaining to an investigation into alleged election interference in 2020.
Elie Honig defended Trump’s politicization of the case against him while riffing on Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney after he smacked the former president in an order denying Trump’s legal motion to quash the grand jury investigation headed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and to have her “disqualified” from the case.
“I’m going to take issue with that statement by the judge. There’s nothing illegal about politicizing an indictment! You’re actually allowed to do that. You’re allowed to fundraise off of ‘I’ve been indicted, and this is unjust,’” Honig argued.
