CNN Moves Tapper, Blitzer and Hunt — And Leaves Acosta in Limbo — As Part of Schedule Shakeup

AP Photo/Ron Harris

CNN unveiled a revamped lineup on Thursday that will be in place in the coming weeks. The schedule shakeup comes as the network also announced layoffs as part of a strategy restructuring.

The Lead with Jake Tapper will be moving to 5-7 p.m. ET, up from its current 4-6 p.m. slot. Debuting at 4 p.m. will be The Arena, hosted by Kasie Hunt who currently anchors CNN This Morning. Audie Cornish will be taking over that 6 a.m. slot while Rahel Solomon will lead a new show called 5 Things at 5 a.m.

Wolf Blitzer will also be moving to the 10 a.m. slot with Pamela Brown. This leaves a question mark over current 10 a.m. anchor Jim Acosta, best known for his feisty exchanges with President Donald Trump and his allies. Acosta’s hour has performed well in the ratings for CNN — on Tuesday, his 10 a.m. show grew to 700,000 total viewers, up from 500,000 in the prior hour.

The changes at CNN are set to go into effect in March. A number of production teams will be moving from New York to Atlanta and Washington in a larger effort to lower costs.

The revamped schedule for CNN was announced the same day layoffs that amount to 6% of the workforce were also revealed.

CNN CEO Mark Thompson has promised a new streaming service for CNN (following the infamous CNN+ endeavor) and said parent company Warner Bros. Discovery is investing $70 million to build out CNN’s digital operations.

“America and the world need high quality, fair-minded, trustworthy sources of news more than ever,” he told staff in a memo. “This difficult and sometimes painful process of change is the only way to make sure we can still provide it.”