A new morning show on CNN – New Day – kicked off on Monday and there already are some sceptics out there, maybe even you. Here’s your need-to-know column on CNN’s latest.
What is new about New Day?
The anchors – former ABC correspondent Chris Cuomo, CNN correspondent Kate Bolduan and news anchor Michaela Pereira; a sprawling faux-brick studio space; a higher story count; more live “remotes”.
What’s New Day up against?
Pretty much everything. Morning TV is balkanised and viewer habits are largely entrenched. For most viewers, CNN first thing in the morning hasn’t been an afterthought but no thought – about 250,000 to 275,000 viewers. (No.1 Good Morning America’s average viewership for the week of June 3 was 5.33 million.)
What will the hosts bring?
A recent Washington Post profile on Bolduan (pronounced “Baldwin”) hints at “a sunny older brother-younger sister act, a newsy Donny and Marie”, which sounds off-putting, but the hosts are decidedly younger than competitors (at 29, Bolduan’s a relative TV child) and youth could be an advantage here.
What does Cuomo, 42 – kid brother of New York’s governor, Andrew – have to say about the challenge?
In a recent interview, this: “The hard truth is that we need CNN’s audience. One of the first challenges is to stop the bleeding and to get (traditional CNN viewers to see the network) as a morning-to-night proposition and give the network a bulwark and a flagship in the morning ... . We need to get our own viewers to embrace what we have and then we grow from there. We have very reasonable expectations because of the history here, I’m convinced that there’s so much going on in morning TV that everything is up for grabs.”
Finally, what do I think?
This could work simply because any growth will be seen as a victory. Plus, Cuomo is right to an extent: Today’s recent string of mistakes has indeed stirred the migratory habits of some morning viewers. Finally, if the anchor chemistry is decent – not cloying, or forced, or predicated on babble – and if the real news story count is high, New Day has a fighting chance. – Newsday/McClatchy-Tribune Information Services
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