CNN, which simulcasts CNN International newscasts in the overnight hours between midnight and four a.m. ET, has announced “refreshed” anchor teams for weeknights and weekends. Zain Asher, CNN’s former business and personal finance correspondent, joins John Vause from midnight to 2amET Monday-Thursday. Rosemary Church and Errol Barnett anchor the 2a-4aET block.
Natalie Allen and former CNN Chicago correspondent George Howell anchor the 12a-4aET block on weekends.
While CNN’s efforts in prime have gotten most of the attention in recent months, CNN boss Jeff Zucker has also emphasized the importance of the hours between prime and early morning. The simulcast block of CNN International newscasts on CNN/US has become a fixture in recent months, and the naming of anchor teams is part of Zucker’s push to make the overnights seamless and consistent for viewers.
As Zucker told The Wrap, “We’ve added, in the last year, five hours of additional news by doing news from 12 midnight to 5 a.m. We are basically doing live news 22 out of 24 hours a day. Everyone said we were getting out of news. We doubled-down on news.”