CNN: The Continuing Soap Opera

[EastCoast 29]

Initial caps from The Story Is. The show has a long intro and nice upbeat theme. So far it feels like a CNNI production, which is good. 

 

The set is simple with large vertical monitors on 3 sides showing the LA skyline and colorful tiles as a backdrop. The desk appears to be one of the old CNN+ desks from New York.

The show uses a bespoke version of the “developing”, “exclusive”, and “weather” stings often seen on CNNI.

 

Overall a strong start. Will see if Elex features Headlines at the bottom of the hour and if he mentions the CNNI opt out for World Sport at 1:45am ET.

Edited October 28, 2025 by EastCoast

[ginnyfan 4]

Saw some of it on day 1 and it just feels so wrong for European mornings when we always got an international newscast. They showed that Newsom interview at the top of each hour, even hijacked Rosemary's hour. CNNI has gone from 5 hours of Newsroom in the mornings to just 2. 

[YourWorldToday 29]

14 hours ago, ginnyfan said:

Saw some of it on day 1 and it just feels so wrong for European mornings when we always got an international newscast. They showed that Newsom interview at the top of each hour, even hijacked Rosemary's hour. CNNI has gone from 5 hours of Newsroom in the mornings to just 2. 

Bring back CNN Today from London! 

 

 

 

[Dave Lampstein 294]

Oof. 

[MD TV 390]

Well it's not like they're working on trying to improve their credibility:

 

 

[EastCoast 29]

On 12/3/2025 at 7:34 AM, Dave Lampstein said:

Oof. 

I’m not sure where the fanfare was, this barely felt promoted on Domestic. Does the article account for International audiences as well? Wonder if his show is doing better or worse that John Vause’s newsroom.

[obxwatcher 23]

On 12/4/2025 at 3:00 PM, EastCoast said:

I’m not sure where the fanfare was, this barely felt promoted on Domestic. Does the article account for International audiences as well? Wonder if his show is doing better or worse that John Vause’s newsroom.

His show is actually pretty good and not as politically heavy as every other cable news show now. You can’t compare ratings from a previous election year because there will always be a drop off. CNN knows they have a live anchor at midnight in case of breaking news but they can experiment.

Edited December 9, 2025 by obxwatcher

[EastCoast 29]

Brianna Keilar covered The Source last night. The show broadcast from Studio D instead of the normal newsroom set.

 

[EastCoast 29]

Rahel Solomon is back! She anchored Early Start yesterday and today. 

[EastCoast 29]

CNN's weekend schedule shows 12 hours of CNN Newsroom on Saturday and 16 hours on Sunday, with the 4 hours Monday morning also airing on CNN Domestic. Is there something notable happening in the overnight hours this weekend? Times below in Eastern, with additional hours (for Domestic) in bold:

 

Saturday: 4-6am (ET), 9-10am, 1-8pm, 10pm-12am,

Sunday: 12-4am, 4-6am, 1-2pm, 2-8pm, 8-9pm, 10pm-12am, 

Monday: 12-4am

 

I'm all for more CNN Newsroom, especially on CNNI. Although I'm sure we'll see CNN's finest broom cupboards on TV. 

[nathannah 2792]

1 minute ago, EastCoast said:

Is there something notable happening in the overnight hours this weekend?

Weather coverage, especially with lots of snow in the South this weekend, so they need all the schedule flexibility they can get.

[mountainave 618]

With Paramount Skydance now poised to acquire Warner Bros Discovery, there exists the prospect of Bari Weiss overseeing CNN. 

[EastCoast 29]

Elex is broadcasting from Atlanta this week. Wonder if it’s to be in a bigger studio or to be closer to the Atlanta team during news-heavy hours given the events unfolding.
 

As for the potential Paramount merger, I do feel for the long-time CNN staffers. CNN seems to change hands quite often, which brings more and more instability. That said, if the Netflix deal went through CNN would’ve been spun off with the Discovery cable channels. We’ll all be watching to see how Mark Thompson navigates the pre-merger market. 

Edited March 3 by EastCoast

[EastCoast 29]

The DC newsroom set looks so much better when people are actually working in the background!

 

Inside Politics and The Arena are using the newsroom set this week and CNN This Morning is in Studio B, presumably because work is being done on Studio D. Wish more shows used a live newsroom background (especially the namesake show). 

[mountainave 618]

AC360 has been covering the war with Iran extensively and, in doing so, experimenting with different formats – tonight with a new newsroom-style studio. The desk with condenser mics evokes that which is commonly seen in podcast video recordings these days. Note the lack of suit jackets/ties as well. 

 

My screenshotting isn't working, so forgive my low-quality screengrab...

 

Edited March 19 by mountainave

[FiveNews 483]

Most shows have been in the newsroom all week. I'm not sure if they're working on studio upgrades or a new set.

[l_miro 245]

4 hours ago, mountainave said:

AC360 has been covering the war with Iran extensively and, in doing so, experimenting with different formats – tonight with a new newsroom-style studio. The desk with condenser mics evokes that which is commonly seen in podcast video recordings these days. Note the lack of suit jackets/ties as well. 

 

My screenshotting isn't working, so forgive my low-quality screengrab...

 

 

"we need to be approachable and relatable"

How? 

"the kids like podcasts so make it all look like a podcast" 

[obxwatcher 23]

2 hours ago, l_miro said:

 

"we need to be approachable and relatable"

How? 

"the kids like podcasts so make it all look like a podcast" 

If Anderson start promoting Ethos during AC360, I’m done with CNN. 

[hfiles 106]

6 hours ago, obxwatcher said:

If Anderson start promoting Ethos during AC360, I’m done with CNN. 

"A new strike in Iran this evening, but first a word from today's sponsors: SquareSpace, HelloFresh, and Factor."

[EastCoast 29]

Now Jake Tapper is broadcasting from his office!

[mountainave 618]

 

The second hour was hosted from the studio.

 

 

[l_miro 245]

6 hours ago, mountainave said:

 

The second hour was hosted from the studio.

 

 

 

They're split testing. Or something broke

[EastCoast 29]

Rahel Solomon announced she’s leaving CNN at the end of her show. She’s be on air through Friday.

Wonder if she’s been tapped for the unnamed MSNOW dayside show?

Edited March 23 by EastCoast
Link added

[mouseboy33 137]

On 3/20/2026 at 6:59 PM, mountainave said:

 

The second hour was hosted from the studio.

 

 

What is actually happening? Who cares that we are seeing his office or Anderson has some Mics on the desk?! Talk about a rudderless ship. Is someone doing this on purpose to CNN? It seems like self-sabotage. Im confused. I still would rather watch CNN if  I had to ( though I preferred CNN international, until they basically let everyone go and people just left and they never re-hired anyone.) but the channel is effectively a mere shadow of its former self. CNN International still does some news broadcasts instead of endless talking head "analyst" shows rather than actual news. But this "podcasty" move on CNN domestic is just silly, performative and pointless.

 

Its so sad to see. Particularly when they formerly commanded a massive huge news room at the CNN Center and then a sister channel that never stopped in Headline News. Which was operating at just delivering the news headlines nonstop. CNN Domestic its just bored-looking over paid anchors in front of screens in flash cam studios conducting sleep inducing interviews. What happened?! (My views have nothing to do with politics) Its just so sad.  It just to be the globally respected news channel. When they are on they do great work. It used to be the go to channel for breaking news....those days are over. (Because everything is branded as breaking news) CNN international also had a massive news room on display in Atlanta, London and in Hong Kong with dedicated blocks of news and reports from all corners of the globe. Now its just a collection of flash cam screens. Does any one actually work there anymore besides those doing politics? Doesnt seem that way.  Today they have basically neglected the entire Southern Hemisphere and you rarely get any news out of Africa or  Asia unless is something about China censoring them live by shutting off their signal. We've seen it a billion times already.  Really no interesting reports and its become US domestic politics heavy.  Yawn. 

 

I find myself turning to SkyNews, BBC, AlJazeera, France 24, CBC. Other global broadcasters that have effectively taken what CNN International used to do and replaced them. There are so many channels that now have filled the space left by Headline News. Not sure why Headline News  couldnt have made it work. Oh I remember.... they kept tinkering with it to death and people stopped watching. Now we have ABC News Live, CBS 24/7, NBC News Now, Scripps News and NewsNation amongst many others  also internationally running headline services.  And all of which came on the scene after they made a mess of Headline News. Those competitors are some how profitable.  Now CNN is trying to rebuild that legacy by creating the CNN Headlines FAST channel. Which is a dire attempt to say the least.

Its so sad to watch.

Edited March 23 by mouseboy33

[EastCoast 29]

World Sport has some snazzy new virtual sets. Nice to see some more dynamic presentation after the move to Techwood two years ago. Still prefer a real studio (not like Techwood doesn't have an abundance of Sports studios), hopefully this gets the weekend editions out of the broom cupboard.