CNN announced Thursday morning that Don Lemon (a long-time CNN primetime host) will “close the curtains” on his evening show and transition to mornings. He will be joined by Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow, two familiar faces from the network. It will air later this year.
The move, reported by Mediaite, is the first major shake-up in CNN’s lineup since the arrival of new CNN CEO Chris Licht. Lemon had been a staple of the prime time lineup at CNN under Jeff Zucker. The network is expected to make more changes to fill the gap Lemon leaves behind as well as reassign John Berman and Brianna Keilar, who currently co-host CNN’s New Day.
New Day will now be replaced by Lemon, Harlow, & Collins.
Licht stated in a release that Don Poppy and Kaitlan are the best combination of talent to deliver on our promise of a game-changing program. They have uncanny and palpable chemistry. Together, they will bring CNN’s global newsgathering capabilities to people and offer them a fresh, smart, and bold way to start their day.
Lemon expressed appreciation to CNN’s audience during the same release.
Lemon stated that the past eight years have been a great ride.
This is a major ideological shift at CNN.
Jake MAGA Tapper attacked MSNBC and said “I guess some commentators have a difficult time stripping out the politics.” Then, minutes later, Jake said it would be “clever” for Biden to “invite Trump” to Queen Elizabeth’s funeral. Jake Tapper is the new Tucker Carlson. #BoycottCNN
— Dash Dobrofsky (@DashDobrofsky) September 9, 2022
Jake Tapper is the Tucker Carlson of CNN.
— Trending Liberal (@TrendingLiberal) September 10, 2022
Rumors abound about the next network employee to be fired, with some speculation about Lemon’s future. This could harm the network’s ratings, which are already very low. Lemon should be moved to mornings to continue his philosophical bent and confrontational (and sometimes confrontational!) style. It is possible to use your nature without affecting the network’s image.
This is a remarkable change-up you can see. This is an indication that CNN’s leadership is working to improve its image and numbers, even though it isn’t Fox News.
