[MEDIAITE] In an era when cable news is dominated by opinion programming, CNN staked out a position ostensibly in the middle by focusing primarily on broadcasting straight news over personality-driven programming. That is going to change.
CNN President Jeff Zucker recently told Capital New York that the straight newscast model is unsustainable. He revealed his intention to change the network into a place with unique “attitude and a take.”
“We’re all regurgitating the same information. I want people to say, ‘You know what? That was interesting. I hadn’t thought of that,’” Zucker told Capital New York news hounds. “The goal for the next six months, is that we need more shows and less newscasts.”
He said that the success of CNN documentaries, like the recently broadcast Blackfish which shed a critical light on the behind-the-scenes workings of Sea World, and travel programming like Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, Zucker hopes to attract more “viewers who are watching places like Discovery and History and Nat Geo and A&E.”
CNN’s shakeup will focus on the prime time lineup, and could result in more half-hour programs. HLN is slated to be “rethought, reimagined, and rebranded.”
Zucker says that there is little internal resistance to the sweeping changes he intends to make to the network because the documentary programming has been well-received and “people have seen the results.” |