CNN’s new dayside lineup is set to debut off in April and will be called CNN News Central.
In January, the network announced a new programming block that sees John Berman, Kate Bolduan, and Sara Sidner co-anchor 9 a.m.-12 p.m. ET out of New York, with Brianna Keilar, Boris Sanchez, and Jim Scuitto co-anchoring 1-4 p.m. ET out of CNN’s Washington D.C. bureau.
Both editions of CNN News Central will broadcast from redesigned studios featuring heavy use of graphics and emphasizing on-location reporting. The blocks will be produced out of CNN’s Atlanta offices.
The network has not given an exact date for the launch of CNN News Central.
Inside Politics with John King will remain at its 12 p.m. ET timeslot and continue to originate from Washington.
“CNN’s Dayside audience is highly influential, with executives and leaders watching from their offices around the country as the day’s news unfolds,” CNN Worldwide Chairman and CEO Chris Licht said in a statement back in January.
He added, “we are leaning into our greatest strengths, showcasing our unparalleled newsgathering operation and giving our anchors the room to be more authentic. We’ve seen how our audience responds to this format, and we believe it will put us in a position of strength going into the evening and primetime hours.”
Licht has been busy putting his imprint into CNN’s programming – he launched the already troubled CNN This Morning in November and is working hard at creating an identity for the 9 p.m. ET slot, which has remained vacant since Chris Cuomo’s departure.
Alisyn Camerota is moving to the 10 p.m. ET slot, and Laura Coates will handle the 11 p.m. ET hour on weekdays. Former CNN This Morning EP Eric Hall will now be responsible for Coates’ show.
Victor Blackwell will be moving back to Atlanta to anchor the 10 a.m. ET hour on Saturdays and co-anchor CNN This Morning Weekend alongside Amara Walker.
The move to CNN News Central brings to an end the show name CNN Newsroom, which has been in use since 2006 during the Jon Klein era of running CNN/US. Fun fact, it was Don Lemon‘s first show on CNN.