Audie Cornish: Last News

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor CNN is shaking up its TV schedule yet again as the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed outlet grapples with significant declines in audience and a need to control costs in an era when more viewers are migrating to streaming media.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Rashida Jones, a respected news operator who has led MSNBC for four years, will leave the NBCUniversal cable outlet to pursue other opportunities, she informed executives and staffers Tuesday. She will be replaced on an interim basis by Rebecca Kutler, a veteran news executive with a long track record of managing talent and devising innovative programming concepts.

CNN‘s Mark Thompson told advertisers additional details about the network’s strategy, with plans to expand franchises to digital platforms and to build new branded verticals around topics beyond politics.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor CNN anchor Kate Bolduan got an interesting new job in 2022 when she was named the anchor of “5 Things,” a quick-hit open-the-day summary of top stories that was made available for streaming audiences. Two years later, she appears poised to get it again. Bolduan will lead a test run of “5 Things” starting Monday on CNN Max, the live-streamed news service available on Max, the streaming venue backed by corporate parent Warner Bros.

TheWrap, the 57-year-old Lemon has agreed to a separation deal for approximately $24.5 million, the equivalent he would have earned for serving out the remainder of his final contract, which was set to expire three-and-a-half years after he was pulled from the airwaves.In April 2023, Lemon, who was featured on Metro Weekly’s coverin 2016, announced on X that he had learned from his agent — and not from the network, for which he had worked for 17 years — that he had been terminated. He said he was never given any indication that the network was considering letting him go.

Columbia Journalism School has announced the 30 Finalists and winners of the 2024 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, honoring outstanding public service audio and video reporting. 

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor After spending months keeping CNN from expanding into streaming, parent company Warner Bros. Discovery appears to have changed its mind. Warner Bros. Discovery is exploring ways to get more CNN programing on to its Max streaming service, according to a person familiar with the matter, looking at the news outlet’s broader portfolio to see what content might work. Executives will have to navigate agreements with CNN’s traditional distributors that often require cable and satellite companies get first access to CNN’s live broadcasts. Yet CNN’s rivals have grappled with similar obstacles and found ways to repurpose the news and opinion shows they run. The Fox Nation streaming outlet runs Fox News Channel’s opinion programs a day later. Fox News in 2020 unveiled a new international service that puts its programs in countries such as Mexico and Spain. MSBNC in March of last year unveiled a plan to offer episodes of “Morning Joe,” “Deadline: White House,” “The Beat with Ari Melber,” “The ReidOut,” “All In with Chris Hayes” and MSNBC’s opinion programs on the Peacock streaming hub on-demand the day after they air on cable.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Audie Cornish’s forthcoming podcast for CNN Audio, “The Assignment With Audie Cornish,” will premiere Thursday, Nov. 17. In this candid weekly show, the CNN anchor and correspondent will have conversations with everyday people “at the center of debates that are rocking the culture.” Topics in the weekly show will span the arts, education, politics, business and sports. According to CNN, the podcast will present stories from inside communities and cultures “shaping what we experience.” “The Assignment With Audie Cornish” will release new episodes every Thursday and will be available to stream on CNN Audio, as well as Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcast platforms.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorCNN+ is gone, but some of the big-name anchors who were hired for the service appear to be sticking around for a while.Chris Licht, the new chairman and CEO at the Warner Bros. Discovery news operation, gave indications at a town hall meeting on Thursday that he intended to find places for some of the popular names that were lured to the company with the promise of new programs for CNN.+ The subscription-based streaming service was scuttled abruptly by the company’s new parent after it completed its acquisition of WarnerMedia from AT&T.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorA recent decision by parent company Warner Bros. Discovery will make it difficult to add viewers to CNN+.Warner Bros. Discovery has decided to suspend external marketing for the recently launched subscription streaming-news service, according to a person familiar with the venture, making the task of luring new subscribers exponentially more difficult.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorPeople who are interested in CNN Plus finally have a date when they can add it to their streaming repertoire. The WarnerMedia-owned cable-news outlet intends to launch the subscription broadband service on March 29.The detail — perhaps the last piece of information to be disclosed about the new media venue — comes ahead of a presentation CNN executives and anchors will make during the SXSW Festival this weekend.

Wolf Blitzer will anchor a nightly newscast for CNN+, the network’s upcoming subscription streaming service.

CNN unveiled plans for three live weekday shows on its new subscription streaming service CNN+, set to launch in the spring.

Audie Cornish, who just last week announced her departure from NPR’s All Things Considered, is joining CNN+ as anchor and correspondent.