Jon Klein Signs New Deal with CNN
CNN/U.S. President to Remain with Cable News Network for Four More Years
By Marisa Guthrie -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/17/2007 11:45:00 AM
CNN/U.S. president Jon Klein signed a new four-year deal to remain at the helm of the TV-news operation, according to sources familiar with the situation.
Klein will continue to report to Jim Walton, president of CNN/Worldwide.
Under Klein’s stewardship, the network has seen an overhaul in various dayparts.
In 2005, Klein made the call to cancel long-running current-events hour Crossfire. Jon Stewart set off a flurry of debate about such debate shows after a heated exchange with Crossfire host Tucker Carlson during which Stewart asserted that the kind of shouting match epitomized by Crossfire amounted to “political hackery.” A few months later, in January 2005, Crossfire was axed and Carlson was out.
The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzerwas launched later that year and recently moved to three consecutive hours (4 p.m.-7 p.m.) to cover the primaries and caucuses. Last month, Lou Dobbs Tonight moved to 7 p.m. to accommodate the Situation Room move, and it has posted a 22% gain in viewers.
American Morning was remade earlier this year with new anchors John Roberts and Kieran Chetry, who abruptly left Fox News Channel earlier this year. But the morning show is struggling, posting an 18% decline in viewers and 36% in adults 25-54 for the month of November.
Anderson Cooper 360was also revamped and expanded on Klein’s watch. Originally launched in 2003 as a traditional news/talk hour, it was expanded to two hours in November 2005, displacing Aaron Brown's NewsNight. And while the show is down from its high point during the wake of Hurricane Katrina, it remains one of the network’s signature shows and the recipient of much promotional muscle.
Early next year, former NBC News political correspondent and weekend Today host Campbell Brown will launch her own show in the highly competitive 8 p.m. hour, where CNN has struggled to compete with Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor -- the longtime time-slot leader -- and MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann.
Year-to-year (Jan. 1-Dec. 9, 2007, versus the same period in 2006), the network is up every hour from 9 a.m.-11 p.m. in the 25-54 demo, according to Nielsen Media Research data.
The network also broke ratings records with last month’s Republican YouTube debate, which was also notable for a smattering of controversy surrounding the network’s and YouTube’s failure to more thoroughly vet a questioner who had been on a gay-and-lesbian steering committee for Democratic candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.). Nonetheless, the YouTube debate attracted 4.4 million viewers, the most-viewed presidential debate in cable-news history.
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I responded to this because the reason I found myself reading it in the first place is because I came upon it while looking for an e-mail address where I can express my offense to Jon Klein about some of the
"circus" reporting that he allows on CNN...my specific complaint being the Nancy Grace Show! Interestingly,it was when she was covering the Michael Jackson trial that I resolved I'd never watch her again because she called Michael Jackson "names"...like "freak". I kept this resolve until, in January, I became involved with reaching out to the Anthonys and, so, began watching the Nancy Grace Show so I could get daily updates on the Anthony's situation...and, each night, I became more appalled that CNN allows this woman to "do" what she does in the name of "justice"! She is rude and arrogant to anyone who does not agree with her and she is totally lacking in compassion for the one she thinks is guilty of the crime that she tries, as judge and juror! She claims to be a Christian and, yet, in reality makes a mockery of what it means to be a Christian...which is the ability to love others with Christ's brand of love...which ALWAYS loves the sinner while, concomitantly, hating the sinner's sin! One night I was sooo appalled by her posture that I sat down and wrote a comment...that I hoped to post on a blog somewhere...about how the Nancy Grace Show encourages unforgiveness and hate...the very thing that authors the crime of murder...when I went to post that comment my eye caught an article entitled "The Nancy Grace Show Kills" and, upon reading it, learned that a young woman, Melinda Duckett, committed suicide only hours after being interviewed by Nancy Grace and having an accusatory finger pointed at her...I have read that transcript of that show and as one who has counseled many people who were on the brink of despair and later told me that, had I not reached out to them they would have committed suicide, I know that I know that I know that Melinda did what she did in response to Nancy's lack of compassion for what she was going through! I was then solidified in my righteous rage at this upon reading a news article, one year before Melinda committed suicide, that warned CNN that what Nancy does could end in a tragedy like this! Nancy Grace calls those who would profit off of Calee's death as being "sick" and, yet, she feeds the sickness by her "sensationalism" MO! AND I could go on and on about what is not right about the Nancy Grace Show and I don't care how high her ratings are! CNN has compromised quality of reporting for quantity of ratings and, as a result, one woman has died and I plan on doing everything I possibly can do to support the Eubanks...who I have come to know personally...to make sure that there is not another Melinda Duckett tragedy via getting Nancy Grace off the air. For me, one Melinda Duckett tragedy is one too many because, as John Donne wrote, "I am involved in mankind there-fore every man's death diminishes me"..Kay DeWitt
Kay DeWitt - 7/23/2009 5:03:10 PM EDT -
Mismanaging at CNN with absurd spur of the moment ideas? Running the network like a circus attraction instead of a serious news organization? Check. His outrageous money has done nothing to get ratings. He makes all his anchors promote social networking sites more than news. Anyone watch Rick Sanchez blogging away? He exploits Anderson Cooper as a beauty rather than a serious journalist he is. Every show on CNN now is about blogs, online videos, and reducing smart individuals with years of journalism experience down to talking heads goofing around like we are in high school. Erica Hill was brought to New York City to continue reading updates, what she was doing in Georgia. She is an afterthought on AC360 when she came here to have a bigger role on the program, which is all about Beyoncé recaps anyway. Wolf Blitzer or John King could have done the Obama interview as experienced political journalists in DC. Instead it went to Klein's cutie pie Cooper for another waste of money to bring him to DC. He wasted plenty of funds on ridiculous gadgets -- hologram on Election Night? Did Klein learn his lesson from that after the Tonight Show and Letterman cracked at it? Was it worth the several thousand dollars he cut jobs over? Does Klein realize people have families to support? Why he is still holding his job baffles me.
CNN Employee - 2/10/2009 7:22:58 AM EST
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