CNN's Announces Cringe Post-Don Lemon Demotion Lineup
CNN announced its post-Don Lemon demotion plans on Thursday, ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
Here's the good news: Don Lemon is in a reduced role. The less the country sees Don Lemon, the better.
Here's the bad news: the lineup isn't any good.
CNN says the new schedule goes into effect on October 10 and runs until November 11. The lineup change is only temporary but likely a tryout for a permanent change.
As CNN buries Lemon onto a morning show that no one plans to watch, Laura Coates and Alisyn Camerota will co-host his soon-to-be former 10 pm to midnight timeslot.
If you've never seen Camerota and Coates, picture two women who make a lot of money and go on television to decry themselves as victims of society. We hope that painted a visual.
Again, they are improvements over Lemon. But over Lemon only.
Next, Jake Tapper moves to primetime at 9 pm, the slot CNN vacated in 2021 after it fired Chris Cuomo. (Note: Cuomo debuts on NewNation next month, as OutKick first reported.)
Tapper is the sole bright spot in the shuffle. He is the best anchor at CNN. He actually asks both Republicans and Democrats tough questions. And most of the industry respects that about him.
However, the lineup continues to go downhill from there. Our friend Brianna Keilar, Angry Morning Lady, will fill in for Tapper at 4 pm with John Berman, who CNN demoted off the morning show last week.
While no one wants to see Keilar in the mornings, she's an even worse fit at 4 pm. See, the network brands the 4 pm hour as part of the "news" division. Yet Keilar is not a news anchor. She's an unpleasant zealot who lies to her viewers and covers politics dishonestly.
Just look at how miserable she is to be on camera:
We'll have to call her Angry Afternoon Lady for the duration of her tryout.
CNN CEO Chris Licht vowed to restore credibility at CNN, to pivot the network back to a place of dignity. His plan thus far has included firing the white male partisans (Brian Stelter, Jeffrey Toobin, and John Harwood) and demoting the non-white male partisans (Lemon, Keilar, and Oliver Darcy).
How cowardly and obvious is that?
Licht also hopes these changes will increase viewership, an increasingly dire issue at the network. Put simply, no one watches CNN.
On Tuesday, the highest-rated CNN program, "Anderson Cooper 360," ranked 31st in cable news. Thirty programs between MSNBC and Fox News outdrew the top show on CNN.
Cooper averaged 853,000 viewers at 8 pm. For comparison, Tucker Carlson drew 3.2 million head to head. Even Chris Hayes, a host without a fan base, averaged 1.5 million on MSNBC during the 8 pm hour.
The other CNN primetime programs drew 670,000 and 571,000 at 9-10 and 10-12 midnight, respectively.
It's up to Jake Tapper, Angry Afternoon Lady, Laura Coates, and Demoted Don Lemon to save CNN this fall.
Anyone optimistic?