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Chris Licht OUT at CNN After Morning Show’s Failure to Grab Audience, Don Lemon Firing & Donald Trump Town Hall

Photo: AP

Chris Licht, who attempted sweeping changes to the programming line-up and more has been let go as CNN’s CEO after just one year in the position.

Warner Bros. Discovery, CEO David Zaslav informed the CNN staff on their daily editorial call on Wednesday. During the informative call, Zaslav acknowledged that Licht’s leadership at CNN was ‘not successful; and that he takes ‘full responsibility’ for it. Prior to Licht, Jeff Zucker led the charge at CNN, and their styles were in sharp contrast to each other.

CNN’s interim leadership team was announced as: Amy Entelis, head of talent and content development, Virginia Mosely, head of editorial, plus programming executive Eric Shearling, and David Leavy, the just announced new COO.

 

Photo: CNN

During his tenure, Licht attempted to launch a newly reformatted morning, CNN This Morning with Poppy Harlow, Don Lemon and Kaitlin Collins, only to not only see it do poorly in the news/morning show ratings, but the trio is no longer together. Currently, Harlow remains with fill-in co-anchors.

Lemon was fired by Licht back in April after 17 years as part of the key anchors of the news network. Collins, has ascended to her own primetime show, and hadsbeen put in the position to lead key ‘Town Halls:, which recently included one with former President and now Republican Presidential candidate, Donald Trump.

Photo: CNN

It is said that one of the reasons for Licht’s dismissal was his decision to give Trump the airtime with Collins.  The now former CEO received swift backlash from viewers and staff. Many felt it was a desperate move by Licht as declining ratings and reworked programming were not turning things around. Licht eventually apologized to the staff for his decision on a Monday editorial call.  The scathing article in The Atlantic entitled, “Inside the Meltdown at CNN” really didn’t do Licht much favors, either.

In addition, there have been so many anchors/reporters/personalities switched around on their primetime line-up, (other than Anderson Cooper) that it became hard to know when to tune-in to see who … you almost needed a scorecard to follow.

So, what do you think of Licht’s departure from CNN? The missteps in programming decisions? A new CEO will eventually be named, but the network says it will takes its time to find the right replacement.  Comment below.

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Yes, all those issues contributed to his departure, but the real reason for the timing is the long tell-all piece in The Atlantic which brought so much to light.

The Zaslav/Malone reign of terror continues. Never before have two members of the Ayn Rand serial killer groupie cult done so much damage to every single division of the Warner/Discovery media oligopoly.

I’ll bet Licht wishes he had kept his job as Stephen Colbert’s producer.

Rehire Brian and Don now that this man is gone

Good riddance! Now re-hire Don Lemon and give him back his 10pm time slot. I watched his show every night, and have missed it since they took it off. Licht should have never tried to re-make Don as a morning coffee puff piece host. That’s not him, never has been. Did he make some inartful comments, absolutely. But his voice is one that is sorely needed at that network.

As a regular watcher of CNN this last year has been like a roller coaster ride. Especially the shifting around of their on-air personalities, especially their seasoned ones with lots of experience. They have had some really good specials though. Don Lemon didn’t work well with his co-hosts in the morning, and Chris Cuomo crossed the “church and state” line. Plus Warner Brothers also messed up my free cable package viewing of Turner Classic Movies. So I wait with bated breath to see what their further tinkering with CNN comes to. I hope not their ruin.

Good riddance! Too bad there weren’t able to cancel Pence dispenser’s town hall last night.

CNN would double its ratings easily if it became the objective news organization of its founding. There is no objective reporting now. Its time CNN take the lead again.

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George Cheeks, CBS President & CEO, on Timeline to Launch New Daytime Drama, ‘The Gates’: “We’re So Focused on Getting it Right”

March 2024 will be remembered in the TV and soap world when the news broke that CBS is prepping a brand new daytime drama. Many had thought a major network would never bring a new daytime soap into the world, given that the last time it was attempted was 25 years ago when the now defunct Passions bowed on NBC.

However, The Gates is definitely in development and moving forward with some major players associated with it including: Michele Val Jean as The Gates writer, showrunner and one of its executive producers, and Sheila Ducksworth from NAACP Venture

Now, for the first time since its announcement, George Cheeks, the president and CEO of CBS and chief content officer for news and sports at Paramount+, spoke on the project that will feature a Black family as its central focus who live in a wealthy gated community.

Photo: NAACP

Speaking with Vulture, and when asked if The Gates is really something that truly has a chance of getting on the air, Cheeks clarified, “It’s super real. And just to give you a little bit of the backstory,  when we hired Sheila Ducksworth to run the NAACP Venture, she and I had multiple meetings talking about what different genres she was going to lean into, and we talked a lot about daytime.”

Cheeks added, “One of the things that the data made very clear to both of us is that daytime soap operas over index with Black women, and yet when you look at soap operas, it’s usually sort of a white-led family with supporting characters that reflect more of our society. So we just thought, wouldn’t it be interesting to flip that and make the core anchor family a Black family, and then make the other characters reflect more the broader scope of society?”

Photo: JPI

The CEO gave props to Michele Val Jean,  and how Ducksworth came to the table with the former B&B and GH writer. “She found this great writer, Michele Val Jean, who’s been in the soap opera space for 30 years. She came up with a pitch, and we loved it,” shares Cheeks. “We brought Procter & Gamble into it as well, because if there were going to be (product) integrations, we could do it more holistically and organically. All of that is to say, we did a lot of work on the front end to put this together. So while yes, it’s development, it’s accelerated development.”

When prodded on the timeline of when The Gates could come to full fruition, Gates related, “The actual timeline and when we’re going to do it is still uncertain, because we want to get this right. I mean, there hasn’t been a new soap opera launch since I can’t even begin to tell you when. But we have great success with Bold and the Beautiful and Young and the Restless, and so we think we’re the right folks to be launching a new soap. I wish I could tell you more about exact timing, but we’re so focused on getting it right, and that will dictate when we’re ready to launch it.”

The CBS exec also shared that whether The Gates will wind up an hour soap or half-hour is not yet determined, but that it is being developed as an hour show.

So, after reading what George Cheeks, the CBS President & CEO had to say about ‘The Gates’, are you even more excited for what looks to the first new network soap in 25 years? Comment below.

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Breaking News

Robyn Bernard, ‘General Hospital’s’ Terry Brock, Dead at 64

Former General Hospital star, Robyn Bernard, who played aspiring singer Terry Brock has died. She was 64-years-old.

Bernard’s body was found Tuesday in San Jacinto, California. A Riverside County Coroner told TMZ they identified the actress’ body using her fingerprints after deputies responded to a death investigation call on Tuesday March 12th.

Sources told the outlet that Bernard’s body was found in the wee hours of the morning. The cause of death has yet to be determined.

Photo: ABC

Bernard joined General Hospital back in 1984 as Terry Brock, the daughter of the abusive D.L. Brock (played by David Groh). Robyn remained on the ABC soap opera for six years before making her exit in 1990. At one point, Terry’s stepmother would become Bobbie Spencer (the late Jackie Zeman) when the nurse married her father.

Terry was involved in the Laurelton Murders storyline and after first setting her sights on Frisco Jones, wound up with killer Kevin O’Connor. Later, Terry was blamed for several murders and in the end killed Kevin in self-defense. In addition, Terry had a relationship with Dusty Walker played by none other than Shaun Cassidy.  She eventually left Port Charles after landing her own recording contract.

Photo: ABC

The last time GH Fans may have seen Bernard was in 2014, when she appeared at the GH Fan Club Weekend Past Cast event. Robyn is pictured below with the late Susan Brown (ex-Gail) at the fan gathering. She has been out of the limelight for several years.

Photo: JPI

In addition to her role on GH, Bernard was featured throughout her TV career on primetime’s Simon & Simon, Tour of Duty and The Facts of Life.

Share your remembrances and condolences for GH alum Robyn Bernard and her loved ones via the comment section below.

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Breaking News

51st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards Announce Broadcast Date on CBS

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) revealed on Tuesday, that the 51st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards will be broadcast live on Friday night, June 7th (8 – 10 PM, ET/delayed PT) on the CBS Television Network, and available to stream live and on-demand on Paramount+*.

This year will mark the 18th time CBS has broadcast the Daytime Emmy Awards, which is more than any other network.

The 2024 Daytime Emmys will take place at the Westin Bonaventure in downtown Los Angeles. Back in December of 2023, the delayed 50th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards were also held at that venue. The June 7th date for the upcoming ceremony will be the first time in several years that the event is scheduled a few weeks earlier than normal; excluding last year’s revised date to the actors and writers strikes.

Photo: NATAS

Lifetime Achievement honoree, nominations, host, and additional information will be announced in the coming weeks.

In a statement, Adam Sharp, President and CEO of NATAS noted, “We eagerly anticipate our return in June as we once again partner with CBS to recognize the exceptional and talented individuals who make daytime television great. We’re thrilled to kick off our second half-century of the Daytime Emmys.”

The Daytime Emmy Awards have recognized outstanding achievement in television programming and crafts since 1974, honoring work in a variety of categories, including daytime dramas, talk shows, instructional programming, hosting, culinary, and legal/courtroom programs. In 2021, NATAS and the Television Academy jointly announced plans to realign the Daytime and Primetime Emmy Awards to be organized by content genre, as opposed to program airtime.

Photo: JPI

The 51st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards will once again be produced by NATAS and Associated Television International (ATI), which produced Daytime Emmy Award ceremonies on The CW in 2009 and on CBS in 2010, 2011, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Adam Sharp and Lisa Armstrong are executive producers from NATAS, while David McKenzie is executive producer from ATI.

So, glad to know that the 51st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards honoring performance and shows in the 2023 calendar year, will be held in early June this year, and once again broadcast on CBS? Comment below.

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