Posted on 02/20/2005 3:09:00 AM PST by Liz
For the first time in its history, CNN's Headline News is tinkering with its all-news format.
The network will launch a new primetime lineup tomorrow — the first time in the network's 20-plus years on the air that it's making a break from airing straight newscasts.
"We're doing it because it's a chance to use both of our networks in a complementary way," said Ken Jautz, executive vice president of CNN Newsgroup.
"In this day and age there is so much competition in news. By the time you get to prime time people know the headlines of the day."
The switch is one of the early changes under new CNN President Jonathan Klein, who took over the network late last year.
While Fox News surpassed CNN in the ratings in recent years and is the No. 1 cable news network, CNN's sister network Headline News has held its own. Last year, for example, Headline News averaged 213,000 viewers during daytime hours, compared with 201,000 for MSNBC and 207,000 for CNBC, according to Nielsen.
In primetime last year, Headline News' ratings were largely flat from the year before.
Beginning tomorrow evening, Headline News will begin airing "Showbiz Tonight" from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. — a live, talk-oriented show on the entertainment business. In the next hour, from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m., the network will air the legal talk show "Nancy Grace," hosted by the CourtTV anchor of the same name.
Grace, who became a prosecutor after her fiancee was murdered, will continue to host her CourtTV show "Closing Arguments."
"There's a very high interest among viewers in legal news and entertainment," Jautz said.
"It's the first time we've had a major marketing campaign for Headline News," Jautz said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
My thoughts exactly... they will go all-out al-Jazeera now, this is their latest excuse.
When they bring some non-flaming-liberals on board, I might tune in again.
Wasn't the whole point of Headline News to be a place where the news was read through a half hour cycle continuously so there was somewhere to go to catch up if the main network was doing one of their talkfests or other non news programs?
Ecellent comment. I heartily agree.
Yeah, back in the "Stone Age," it was.
No kidding. Hip and cool? Damn, I missed it (/sarc).
I hope Grace moves on totally to CNN. It would be good for both. Meanwhile Court TV could develop legal shows along the lines of trading places -- with real-world lawyers and real-world legal advice.
im taking bets that six months from now their ratings between seven and nine will tank
any takers?
FOX cnn
Yep -- CNN // Ted Turder.. its not the format!!! Its the dishonesty. They will never ever ever GET IT !
....there's no surer way to cash in then betting on that eventuality....
Rearranging the deck chairs....
Amen!
So they're going from news to fluff. Good solution. (As if the world needs Nancy Grace on yet another channel)
Reporting the news is too much work anyway.
Underreporting triumphs? They don't report anything but body counts. That is it, nothing else.
CNN isn't exceptional in that reagard, but it's still disgraceful.
Hey CNN. Whatever shakes out at the shake up...every breath you take, every step you make, we'll be watching you.
Here in Metro DC we have the Mhz Network which runs 30 and 60 minute daily news shows from all around the world.
Some are in the native language, some are in English, and some with English subtitles.
But I kid you not, even the French and German news broadcasts are more interesting, less biased, and more globally comprehensive than the swill that pours forth from CNN.
Most of the shows include one or two newsreaders who announce a story, then allow a 2 to 5 minute in depth report to be shown. No phony jocularity, no smart quips, no false repartee. Just the news.
Really, the state of American news broadcasting is a disgrace.
As for BBC News, that's not shown on Mhz but is relegated to the PBS evening feed, where it belongs. It is by far the most sneering anti-American news broadcast out there (again, even compared to France and Germany).
"That woman (cause she sure ain't no lady) has nothing but a hate-on for anything and anyone who crosses her. She is less concerned about whether her judicial observations are correct, than she is about coming across as some sort of crusader (since her fiance' was murdered many years ago)."
I do not have a problem with her. She is smart, articulate, and well-informed. She was on 'our' side during the Simpson debacle.
"OMG, the prospect of CNN airing the Jackson family story in-depth is enough to make my skin crawl. "
What liberals really mean when they say it's 'for the children'.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.