[Charles]

In my opinion, Morning Joe is not particularly newsy.  It’s mostly discussion oriented now.  Nothing at all like an evening newscast in the morning.  

If you're looking for a broad selection of news stories in a relatively short amount of time, reporter hits, and polished reporter pkgs, then no, Morning Joe is not "newsy." But through those long drawn-out discussions that have become their hallmark, they have been able to create newsworthy moments whenever they have big, good political guests. At least that's how it was in its heyday when Chris Licht ran it, and I think that's what CNN is trying to do in the morning now. The goal seems to be that they want to get somebody important on and to get them to say something substantial enough that it becomes a news item on its own. The fact that they now have a second EP who's solely focused on guest booking during the day setting up tomorrow's show tells me that they're really prioritizing guest interviews and turning the show into a must-watch.

[oscillon]

I do not understand the whole “secret extra hour of New Day / This Morning Weekend, branded as Newsroom” though. Why not just have the half-hour recorded programme in the middle of This Morning Weekend? Is it to do with ratings averages or something? There must be a reason, but like so many long-standing things in broadcasting it comes across as odd to the viewer.

I think it's for consistency reasons. It would be weird to have CNN This Morning to be finished at 9am or earlier (Sunday) throughout the whole week, but then on Saturday for it to also run from 10am till 11am. By the way, Smerconish, which separates the 10am hour, is an hour-long live program, not a recorded half-hour.

---

Today marks ten years of The Lead with Jake Tapper being on air (big day of anniversaries), so yesterday he did a special acknowledgement of that fact at the very end of the show.
us.cnn.com 

'What the hell?': Tapper reacts to show's first episode 10 years later | CNN Bus…
CNN’s Jake Tapper reacts to 10-year-old footage from his show’s first episode, a…
  Source: us.cnn.com

---

Yesterday's 9pm hour, despite being branded as the second hour of AC360, followed the CNN Primetime trope and was focused solely on the single topic of Putin's arrest warrant by the ICC. Most of the guests, however, were remote and not in the studio (which they usually try to achieve to some extent during branded Primetime shows).

[matthieu1221]

I do not understand the whole “secret extra hour of New Day / This Morning Weekend, branded as Newsroom” though. Why not just have the half-hour recorded programme in the middle of This Morning Weekend? Is it to do with ratings averages or something? There must be a reason, but like so many long-standing things in broadcasting it comes across as odd to the viewer.

Prior to the launch of New Day Weekend the Saturday morning lineup was:

   06:00  Weekend Early Start
   07:00  CNN Saturday Morning
   09:30  Your Money
   10:00  CNN Saturday Morning
   12:00  CNN Newsroom with Fredricka Whitfield

The New Day Weekend name and branding took over the 06:00-09:30 hours on June 22, 2013. The 10:00-12:00 hours kept the same hosts as New Day Weekend but switched to the CNN Newsroom name and branding. A week later Fredricka Whitfield took over the 11:00 hour and has hosted it since. Weekend morning shows attract some of CNN's worst ratings and only receive facelifts to keep up with the weekday counterparts. It's likely that this odd hour in the schedule is because someone in 2013 didn't want the New Day name running all the way until noon and no-one has paid it any attention since.

On a side note "CNN Saturday Morning" is a much better name than "CNN This Morning Weekend".

Who used to present Weekend Early Start? Was it the same pairing as Saturday/Sunday Morning?

[mark]

If you're looking for a broad selection of news stories in a relatively short amount of time, reporter hits, and polished reporter pkgs, then no, Morning Joe is not "newsy." But through those long drawn-out discussions that have become their hallmark, they have been able to create newsworthy moments whenever they have big, good political guests. At least that's how it was in its heyday when Chris Licht ran it, and I think that's what CNN is trying to do in the morning now. The goal seems to be that they want to get somebody important on and to get them to say something substantial enough that it becomes a news item on its own. The fact that they now have a second EP who's solely focused on guest booking during the day setting up tomorrow's show tells me that they're really prioritizing guest interviews and turning the show into a must-watch.

For a news channel, that's probably the right approach. But it's interesting to note that the likes of the Today show have moved away from it.

I can't remember the last time I saw an interview in the newsy bits of Today - and I personally think it's much better viewing than UK breakfast TV, with its confrontational interviews with whichever minister is doing the rounds.

[EastCoast]

Prior to the launch of New Day Weekend the Saturday morning lineup was:

   06:00  Weekend Early Start
   07:00  CNN Saturday Morning
   09:30  Your Money
   10:00  CNN Saturday Morning
   12:00  CNN Newsroom with Fredricka Whitfield

The New Day Weekend name and branding took over the 06:00-09:30 hours on June 22, 2013. The 10:00-12:00 hours kept the same hosts as New Day Weekend but switched to the CNN Newsroom name and branding. A week later Fredricka Whitfield took over the 11:00 hour and has hosted it since. Weekend morning shows attract some of CNN's worst ratings and only receive facelifts to keep up with the weekday counterparts. It's likely that this odd hour in the schedule is because someone in 2013 didn't want the New Day name running all the way until noon and no-one has paid it any attention since.

On a side note "CNN Saturday Morning" is a much better name than "CNN This Morning Weekend".

Who used to present Weekend Early Start? Was it the same pairing as Saturday/Sunday Morning?

Same presenters. I believe the most common pairing was Victor Blackwell and Randi Kaye

[interestednovice]

I do not understand the whole “secret extra hour of New Day / This Morning Weekend, branded as Newsroom” though. Why not just have the half-hour recorded programme in the middle of This Morning Weekend? Is it to do with ratings averages or something? There must be a reason, but like so many long-standing things in broadcasting it comes across as odd to the viewer.

I think it's for consistency reasons. It would be weird to have CNN This Morning to be finished at 9am or earlier (Sunday) throughout the whole week, but then on Saturday for it to also run from 10am till 11am. By the way, Smerconish, which separates the 10am hour, is an hour-long live program, not a recorded half-hour.

---

Today marks ten years of The Lead with Jake Tapper being on air (big day of anniversaries), so yesterday he did a special acknowledgement of that fact at the very end of the show.
us.cnn.com 

---

Yesterday's 9pm hour, despite being branded as the second hour of AC360, followed the CNN Primetime trope and was focused solely on the single topic of Putin's arrest warrant by the ICC. Most of the guests, however, were remote and not in the studio (which they usually try to achieve to some extent during branded Primetime shows).

Sorry, I didn’t realise Smerconish was actually live! I was thinking of days gone by when programmes such as Your Money used to air in the slot, and assumed Smerconish was also a pre-record. Either way, the whole arrangement adds up to a bit of a disjointed schedule and isn’t ideal.

BBC Breakfast sometimes airs short editions of Click or Newswatch during a weekend edition, presumably to give the presenters a break as weekend Breakfast is generally longer than weekday, so it wouldn’t be a completely crazy idea to use the same branding “split” with a programme in the middle. I assume CNN managers just don’t want to do that.

British Breakfast TV is a really odd mix. On the one hand, you have quite confrontational “gotcha” interviews as has been said (the kind of thing that sometimes wouldn’t be out of place on Newsnight) but then also really fluffy stories. The BBC have also built an entire programme identity around having a “famous red sofa” and scarcely any other set pieces!

[inletwindow]

Wow, I had forgotten that Early Start Weekend even existed. But whatever it’s been branded as — it’s essentially remained pretty much the same thing… whether it’s CNN Newsroom , CNN Saturday/Sunday, Early Start Weekend, New Day Weekend, or now CNN This Morning Weekend.

Those weekend editions are Atlanta based and have nothing to do with the NY weekday versions.

Now, I wonder if the weekend CNN Newsroom shows will become CNN News Central like the weekdays?

Maybe eventually…. But I would expect them to remain CNN Newsroom for the foreseeable future — Since those are largely out of Atlanta still, they probably can’t get the same look they want as with the new studio in NY.

[oscillon]

Maybe eventually….  But I would expect them to remain CNN Newsroom for the foreseeable future —  Since those are largely out of Atlanta still, they probably can’t get the same look they want as with the new studio in NY.

You might have forgotten that CNN is moving from its current Atlanta building, CNN Center, to a new one in Techwood. All current Atlanta studios are supposed to become history by the end of this year. So there will be all new studio(s) in Atlanta as well, although it was reported that parts of now demolished Studio 7 will be re-used.

---

Another thought just came into mind regarding Victor Blackwell signing off weekday afternoons. Does this mean that Boris Sanchez will step in the slot in the next week or two, which would logically coincide with the launch of the Washington part of News Central? Or will they do everything in baby steps, with Boris Sanchez or Victor Blackwell being out of permanent slot for another month?

[inletwindow]

Maybe eventually….  But I would expect them to remain CNN Newsroom for the foreseeable future —  Since those are largely out of Atlanta still, they probably can’t get the same look they want as with the new studio in NY.

You might have forgotten that CNN is moving from its current Atlanta building, CNN Center, to a new one in Techwood. All current Atlanta studios are supposed to become history by the end of this year. So there will be all new studio(s) in Atlanta as well, although it was reported that parts of now demolished Studio 7 will be re-used.

---

Another thought just came into mind regarding Victor Blackwell signing off weekday afternoons. Does this mean that Boris Sanchez will step in the slot in the next week or two, which would logically coincide with the launch of the Washington part of News Central? Or will they do everything in baby steps, with Boris Sanchez or Victor Blackwell being out of permanent slot for another month?

Oh I assure you I have not forgotten. I guess it remains to be seen what the Techwood studio(s) look like.  But I don’t think they are being designed with this new show in mind like the studios are elsewhere.  

So they’ll be used by CNNI (mostly overnights), Domestic on weekends, and possibly for Charles Barkley if he does get a CNN show.

I wouldn’t expect to see any of the News Central anchors taking over until the show launches, but you never know.

[interestednovice]

I agree.

Both Victor and Boris are likely to be off-air for a while as they shift things around and probably do piloting in the background.

In Victor’s case, he will have to move (again!) this time from NY to Atlanta and not the other way around.