Free Newsletter Subscription
        BNC All Access

Zahn To Leave CNN

By Marisa Guthrie -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/24/2007 11:43:00 AM

Paula Zahn confirmed Tuesday that she will leave CNN next week.
Zahn’s transition out of CNN was not a quiet one. She soldiered on while rumors circulated that her bosses were looking to replace her ratings-challenged 8 p.m. news show Paula Zahn Now.

On Monday, CNN confirmed a deal with former Weekend Today anchor Campbell Brown to front a new 8 p.m. interview show.
Zahn's last day on the air at CNN will be August 2.
“I’ve been in the business long enough to know that if you allow yourself to be drowned by the noise you’re not going to put on a very good television show,” said Zahn during a phone interview on Tuesday.

“Was it pleasant for everybody on my staff and me to go through? Absolutely not.”
Zahn said discussions with Jon Klein, president of CNN/U.S., about her future at the network began “months ago.”
In the end, she added, “we decided to pursue separate paths. And I think that was the right decision. It truly was a mutual decision.”

Her contract – which CNN will honor, according to sources – does not expire until the end of the year after which she is free to appear on a competing network.

Zahn said she is “looking at a number of different (television) opportunities,” but will “resist jumping into anything right away.”

Brown officially starts at CNN September 1, but the terms of her exit agreement with NBC preclude her from appearing on the air until November. (She is expecting her first child with husband Dan Senor, a Fox News analyst, in December.) CNN will employ a series of substitute hosts until Brown’s debut.

Zahn’s first day on the air at CNN came the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, six months ahead of her proposed start date. She moved from mornings to primetime in 2003 and eventually found herself in the unenviable position of competing against opinionated male hosts: MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann and Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, who dominates the 8 p.m. hour.

“The competition at 8 o'clock is the hardest in all of TV,” she said. “That’s something we had to confront day in and day out. But I’m proud of the work we did.”

Her recent series of town hall meetings about race in America was honored with a “best practice” award from the National Association of Black Journalists. 

She’ll host a 10-part PBS series on cancer this fall.

Talkback
Related Content

No related content found.

Also by Marisa Guthrie

Most Popular Pages
    No Top Articles
Newbay Business Information Resource Center

Featured Company


Most Recent Resources

Advertisement
More Content
  • Blogs
  • Photos
  • Podcasts

Marisa Guthrie

BC Beat

Marisa Guthrie
December 18, 2009
Westin: “Way Too Early to Speculate” on Koppel and ‘This Week’
Now that George Stephanopoulos is ensconced on the Good Morning America couch,...
More

Alex Weprin

BC Beat

Alex Weprin
December 18, 2009
A Classic ‘Seinfeld’ Episode Comes To Life
One of the all time great episodes of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld was “The...
More

Free Streaming panel_Grossman_Graboff_Rosenblum_Tellem_Wells_vertical

Free Streaming: Killing or Saving the Television Business

Photos from the B&C/Multichannel News panel discussion and networking breakfast held Nov. 17, 2009, at the Academy Television Arts & Sciences. (Photos by credit: Craig T. Mathew/Mathew Imaging)
Bell Blue

The Schmooze: B&C Hall of Fame Class of 2009

Members of the 2009 B&C Hall of Fame class receive their honors at the Waldorf-Astoria, Oct. 20, 2009.
ZuckerComcast

The Schmooze: 2009 B&C Hall of Fame

Photos from the 19th annual Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame gala at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, Oct. 20, 2009.



Advertisement
About Us   |   Advertising Info   |   Site Map   |   Contact Us   |   Affiliate Links   |   RSS
© 2013 NewBay Media, LLC. 28 East 28th Street, 12th floor, New York, NY 10016 T (212) 378-0400 F (212) 378-0470
Use of this website is subject to its Terms of Use | Privacy Policy