CNN, in Ratings Battle, Continues Shakeup

CNN said it will officially cancel the daytime shows “Burden of Proof” and “NewsSite,” which have been off the air since Sept. 11, and that their respective anchors Roger Cossack and Joie Chen will leave the news network at the end of the year.

The moves are part of ongoing programming adjustments at CNN, a result of new executive leadership that was installed earlier this year. As part of the changes, announced to staff Friday, a total of about 10 on-air employees and another 20 employees from behind the cameras will leave the network by the end of the year.

Under Jamie Kellner, brought in to oversee AOL Time Warner’s basic cable networks, including CNN, and new CNN News Group Chairman Walter Isaacson, the channel has put in place a strategy focusing on single anchors such as Paula Zahn and Bill Hemmer, instead of the teams of anchors that had characterized it previously.

The strategy is an attempt to compete with other TV news organizations, particularly the broadcast networks, by creating “star” newscasters, instead of letting the news itself be the star, as under Ted Turner’s original vision for the two-decade-old channel. Already this year, the shift led to the departure of such CNN fixtures as Lou Waters, “TalkBack Live” host Bobbie Battista and Natalie Allen. Lead anchor Bernard Shaw retired as well.

In a memo to staff, CNN/U.S. Executive Vice President Sid Bedingfield noted that some of the lineup changes were made “on the fly” as the post-Sept. 11 events unfolded, and the changes “have been successful.”

The disruptions to cover the terrorist attacks and the subsequent war in Afghanistan, he said, “came amidst a yearlong review of our programming and anchor lineup. That review is complete, and we are now putting the final touches on a new programming and staffing schedule.” A full new schedule, he said, will be announced soon.

The changes come as CNN has been fighting with the Fox News Channel for dominance in the ratings, a battle that has gotten closer in recent weeks. For the month of November, CNN drew an average 905,000 viewers throughout the total day to Fox’s 747,000. In Eastern time zone prime time, CNN averaged 1.33 million people to Fox’s 1.22 million.

Among other changes unveiled Friday, the weekend “Showbiz This Week,” which also hasn’t aired since Sept. 11, is being canceled, and anchor Bill Tush, a longtime CNN employee, will depart. CNN is in discussions as well about a future role for Laurin Sydney, who had done the daily entertainment updates that have been scuttled in favor of war news. Her daily “Showbiz Today” was canceled earlier in the year.

Several CNN weathercasters are also leaving and the weekend “Travel Now” is being canceled. Weekend coverage will shift toward more live-news programming and reruns of “People in the News” and the documentary show “CNN Presents,” which has recently drawn relatively high ratings with two programs from inside Afghanistan, reported by British journalist Saira Shah.

CNN said that it is working to reassign many staffers who will be affected by the changes. Greta Van Susteren, co-anchor of the legal program “Burden of Proof,” already has her own prime-time show, and will stay.

CNN officials emphasized that the changes weren’t cost-cutting moves, noting that the network, which laid off about 10% of its 4,350-person work force last January, has also hired about 175 people this year for new programs such as Zahn’s morning show and a new flagship evening newscast anchored by Aaron Brown.