Wolf Blitzer may be getting ready to storm the morning on CNN.
The veteran anchor, who has led the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed outlet’s “The Situation Room” in early evenings since 2005, could bring the program to mid-to-late mornings, according to a person familiar with the matter, under a set of new plans around programming and talent currently being considered by CNN.
A CNN spokesperson declined to comment. The Status newsletter previously reported on Blitzer’s potential move to a different time slot.
CNN, which is grappling with significant downturns in viewership, has long been mulling a set of maneuvers that will put more of a spotlight on digital content, and staffers have grown more anxious over what those ideas will portend. Layoffs have long been expected, according to two people familiar with the situation, along with new tweaks to the schedule of the company’s flagship cable network. There is also a belief among employees that CNN could move more of its production staff to its facilities in Atlanta, which would help it cut down on salaries and real estate in New York and Washington, D.C.
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Even so, CNN has not offered any final plans and it is not clear at this time that executives have directly informed personnel or staffers of any shifts in assignments.
CNN CEO Mark Thompson recently told staffers that corporate parent Warner Bros. Discovery planned to invest $70 million in his strategic vision to augment digital content. There are expectations that CNN will examine launching new properties tied to health, wellness and other topics in which executives hope consumers will have interest. “We will develop new digital products with a special focus on digital experiences worth paying for,” the executive told staffers in a memo in July.
Blitzer will turn 77 in March, but has maintained a rigorous on air schedule, taking part in Election Night coverage and anchoring overseas during crisis events. He has worked at CNN since 1990, and, along with Christiane Amanpour and Anderson Cooper, is one of a handful of personnel whose long history on the network offers a gravitas that others can be hard-pressed to match during critical news moments.
Under one idea being considered, Blitzer would team with Pamela Brown, who currently anchors the network’s 11 a.m. hour. The show, according to the person familiar with the situation, could keep Blitzer’s “Situation Room” title, and would grant the anchor an additional hour on air, something in which he has expressed interest. CNN shortened “The Situation Room” in 2021 to give more time to Jake Tapper’s late-afternoon program, “The Lead.” CNN is considering other changes as well.
Blitzer has long thrived in breaking-news environments, and putting him on in mornings would allow him to cover more stories as they happen, rather than summarizing or analyzing them toward the end of the day. It might also allow CNN to give more visibility in evenings to a different anchor.
Still, a move would shake up CNN’s schedule, which has offered “Situation Room” as a sort of counterpart to broadcast evening-news programs and Fox News Channel’s “Special Report.” CNN would need to move a different anchor to shoulder that assignment. The show is sandwiched between Tapper’s program and the start of CNN’s evening schedule, which kicks off with Erin Burnett’s 7 p.m. “Outfront.”
Jim Acosta currently anchors CNN’s 10 a.m. hour.