Cable’s Headline News Channel Is About to Make Some Changes

CNN’s Headline News channel will unveil a make-over today that it hopes will help it boost flagging viewership at a time of increased cable news competition.

The changes, to be seen by the public next week, are largely cosmetic and designed to give the tired-looking channel less of a canned, predictable feeling, said people familiar with the situation. It’s the channel’s first overhaul in some time, following years of tinkering, and follows on the heels of changes at sister channel CNN, which is also trying to update its look.

Luring back viewers to Headline News is key not just to the channel--whose first-quarter, pre-Yugoslav war ratings were down 13% from a year ago--but to the overall CNN brand. Sister channel CNN has increasingly replaced news headlines with actual programs, such as the newsmagazine “NewsStand” and legal show “Burden of Proof,” leaving some hard-news viewers in the lurch. While previously CNN could have counted on those viewers tuning to CNN Headline News, now there are alternatives including MSNBC and Fox News Channel, both of which have regularly scheduled newscasts, presented with a much more up-to-date feel. Many cities have well-presented local news cable channels, as well.

CNN Headline News’ new look, according to people familiar with the situation, will include color-coded graphics and a more modern set.

The channel, which is overseen by President Bob Furnad, has already made some changes in its content in the past year, boosting the number of stories in each half-hour segment by 50%. The format of repeating news each half-hour won’t change, but under a new policy, viewers will no longer see the exact same news pieces repeated endlessly throughout the day, sources said. The changes are meant to try to get viewers to tune in more than once a day.

In addition, CNN is expected to announce that it will spend several million dollars promoting the network, in an offbeat new ad campaign created by New York agency DiNoto Lee. It’s the first time Headline News has hired an outside agency to promote itself.

The changes at Headline News follow an extended period of turmoil for the channel as it converted its technical operations to a digital format, a complicated process that led to numerous on-air glitches.