New CNN Morning Show Called ‘New Day’

By Alex Weprin 

CNN’s new morning show will be called “New Day.”

It will air from 6-9 AM, starting an hour earlier than the network morning shows, but up directly against “Morning Joe’ on MSNBC and “Fox & Friends” on Fox News Channel. “New Day” debuts Monday, June 10th.

The new show will be anchored by Chris Cuomo, who left ABC News for CNN in January, and Kate Bolduan, who’s been a DC correspondent for CNN and Michaela Pereira, who joins CNN from KTLA.

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The show replaces “Starting Point” which had been hosted by Soledad O’Brien. O’Brien left CNN at the end of March to start her own production company. “Early Start,” anchored by John Berman and Zoraida Sambolinwill remain on the air from 5-6 AM.

The new logo for the program is a stark departure from CNN’s past morning programs. It looks like a network morning logo with its big  bright color (CNN Red), and referring to the anchors as  “Chris and Kate.” CNN hasn’t revealed any details on programming just yet, but if the logo is any indication, expect a show more in line with “Good Morning America” or “Today” than “Morning Joe.”

As it happens, former “Good Morning America” and “CBS Evening News” executive producer Jim Murphy will be the Senior EP of the program, with Matt Frucci serving as EP.

Update: Internal email from Jeff Zucker, after the jump.

It’s a new day at CNN…and a busy one as well.

We have just announced that our new morning program will launch on June 10th, and will be called New Day.  Hosted by Chris Cuomo and Kate Bolduan, along with Michaela Pereira, we think the show will live up to its name in a couple of ways.  So mark your calendars and start the countdown clock.

In addition, end of month ratings are now in and I wanted to share with you some highlights.  For the month of April, CNN posted its best ratings since the November election, and we also topped MSNBC for the first time in more than a year. Year-to-date, CNN is now the #2 cable news network in America.  In fact, not only did CNN top MSNBC, but HLN did as well.   In addition, CNN digital is having its best month ever, in its history.

We value the fact that our audience comes to us for breaking news coverage and clearly they stayed with us throughout this news cycle.  We also saw the successful launch of Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown this month, and that was another big draw for our audience.  As we continue to expand our offerings beyond breaking news, we are reminded of how important it is that CNN remains essential.

None of this happens without all of you.  Thank you, and congratulations.

JEFF

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