Posted on 07/05/2003 6:43:21 PM PDT by kcordell
CNN counts on Zahn in prime-time battle
By CAROLINE WILBERT The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After more than a month off the air, Paula Zahn returned to CNN on a recent weeknight with a typically poised explanation.
Dressed in a coral suit with matching necklace, she explained in a few quick sentences that she was on vacation for a while and now will be hosting an 8 p.m. news show. The show is "a work in progress" that will roll out new features, contributors and set in coming weeks, she added.
"I'm very excited," said Zahn, who used to host the network's morning show. "The future looks great."
If only a prime-time solution was that simple for CNN.
For two years, the network has been playing second fiddle to archrival Fox News in prime time -- and continually reworking its lineup.
The current strategy is to use Zahn, the pert but businesslike veteran CNN hired away from Fox in 2001.
CNN wants a hard-news program that also is engaging enough to woo prime-time viewers.
It hasn't been an easy balance for news networks to strike. By 8 p.m., many viewers already have caught up on news of the day and want something different.
CNN's last attempt, "Connie Chung Tonight," did relatively well in the ratings. Still, the show's tabloid style didn't represent the company's desired hard-news image, and it was canceled.
Fox News has hit the prime-time jackpot with "The O'Reilly Factor," a combative talk show with the conservative-leaning Bill O'Reilly that entertains viewers and draws the biggest ratings in cable news.
That formula isn't easy to copy, however. Other attempts at talk shows, including two on MSNBC -- Phil Donahue's liberal counterpoint, canceled in February, and the network's current show with Keith Olbermann -- haven't been able to replicate the success.
No ratings boost
CNN is a distant second in ratings in the 8 p.m. time slot -- and Zahn's reappearance so far hasn't jump-started the ratings.
It may be too early to gauge the ratings success, as the show has not been fully rolled out and has not been promoted.
In its first week, Zahn's show drew an average of 552,000 viewers, compared with 2.16 million for O'Reilly on Fox News and 240,000 for Olbermann on MSNBC.
CNN viewership fell 2 percent from the week before in the time slot.
"We measure our success based on ourselves," CNN spokeswoman Christa Robinson said. "Our objective will be to continue to grow our audience over time. We all know you don't build an audience overnight."
The network competes against more than just other news networks, though. In prime time, all networks, including broadcast giants, throw out their best fare, said Larry Gerbrandt, chief operating officer of Kagan World Media.
The good news, Gerbrandt said, is that more people have their televisions on during prime time than at any other time, so there are more viewers to share.
Jim Walton was named president of CNN in January, and he set about returning the network to a hard-news focus. He canceled shows that didn't fit the image, including Chung's program and "Talk Back Live." Debate show "Crossfire" was demoted to a half-hour slot in the afternoon.
In April, CNN announced that Zahn would anchor a two-hour hard-news show from 7-9 p.m. The move was a gamble, as Zahn, arguably the network's biggest star, had grown ratings in the morning and developed a following.
"We are making a statement that we want a news program in prime time," Teya Ryan, general manager of CNN/U.S., said at the time.
The network, which hired producer Jim Miller to work with Zahn, since has scaled the show back to one hour. Zahn said she didn't want to pad a longer program with filler.
Reese Schonfeld, the founding president of CNN who still tracks news networks closely, thinks a hard-news program could do well at 8 p.m., if done right. There is no direct competition, since other news networks have talk shows at that time.
"But the news may be stale, unless you work hard to make it new," he said.
Zahn's show, yet to be named, will be driven by live interviews, which Zahn sees as one of her strengths, she said.
On her first night back on the air she had ex-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani join her at the desk -- perhaps a nod to the importance of the New York audience.
Magazine style
There also will be magazine-style packages from around the world. A cast of contributors will join Zahn. Some will be hired from outside the network and some regular CNNers also will work on the program.
"I think people are so comfortable with the remote [control]," Miller said. "Three minutes into 'Friends' they may decide they don't like the story line. ... We have to give them a reason to stop clicking."
Miller is confident despite the challenge. When asked if it is frustrating to have Zahn's show on this summer before all the features, including the cast of contributors, are ready, he said: "It is only awkward in that we are a Porsche going 40 miles an hour."
The last time I saw him he could hardly look up from his plate of free food to talk and when he did he talked while chewing. Acted like a starving man.
Did anyone see Saturday Night Live's spoof of Donohue last week? It was very funny. Donohue was interviewing Michael Moore and Barbra Streisand ... they made much of how dirty and smelly Moore is!
She couldn't have gotten to where she is based on knowledge and intelligence. That night she was a stereo typed blond. The lights were on but no one was home. I haven't watched her since...
Followed by what sounded like a zipper being yanked like some Bodice-Ripper romance novel?
The ad was quickly stopped, but not before Drudge and Rush had a field day with it. The CNN producer swore he meant the sound to be a turn table (remember those?) having its scratching a LP. He said it was supposed to sound "hip, just like Alley McBeal!"
Zahn's public display of anger at the ad was most amusing, and was a parody of what many of these "professional newswomen" display as a contradiction:
- I am smart
- I am not a bimbo
- I am sexy, but not like that
- I am hip, but not an airhead
- I WILL be taken seriously
- Does this dress make my behind look big?
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