CNN Discontinues Daybreak; American Morning Expands To Four Hours Beginning Nov. 28; All Staffers Will Be Reassigned

Here’s the memo staffers received this morning:

To: CNN Staff

From: Jon Klein

I’m pleased to announce that American Morning will be expanding to four hours, 6-10am, beginning Monday, November 28th. Although we will discontinue Daybreak, Carol Costello will continue as a vital member of our morning team in her role as news reader and reporter for American Morning along with anchors Soledad O’Brien and Miles O’Brien.

This move is an indication of the immense potential we recognize in American Morning. The outstanding work during and after Katrina by Soledad, Miles, Carol and Kim Bondy’s entire production team has given the program momentum that we will build on. By focusing resources around our flagship morning broadcast and increasing its footprint on the air, we feel we can compete even more strongly in this critically important daypart.

I want to commend Carol and Bryan Bell for their impressive success at Daybreak, which has proven that the 6 a.m. hour can be a valuable time period. The entire Daybreak team has created a welcoming family both on and off the air, and we hope to bring some of that vibe to American Morning. Bryan will be joining Kim Bondy’s senior staff in New York.

All Daybreak staffers will be reassigned, to either American Morning or other CNN programs.