CNN Reportedly Considering Exiling Jim Acosta’s Show To Midnight ‘To Throw a Bone To Trump’

CNN chief executive Mark Thompson reportedly suggested moving anchor Jim Acosta’s morning show to midnight as part of a planned shakeup at the network.

Former CNN senior media reporter Oliver Darcy reported in his Status newsletter on Thursday that Acosta “received a peculiar telephone call from CNN chief Mark Thompson” the night before.

“Thompson, I’m told, delivered the veteran journalist a sudden and strange proposal: Move your show to midnight and anchor it until 2am ET,” reported Darcy, who claimed Acosta was caught “off guard” by the proposal as “he had no reason to believe that his current show would be on the chopping block.”

Acosta was reportedly told that the lineup change “had nothing to do with his ratings or the editorial style of his show,” but would be necessary logistically to accommodate a new morning schedule.

According to Darcy, Thompson “even pitched the graveyard shift as if it were something of a promotion for Acosta.”

Darcy questioned the purpose of the change, noting that Acosta had some of the stronger ratings at CNN, and that a 12 a.m. time slot “occupied by virtually zero other hosts in the cable news business” would “effectively exile Acosta to the Siberia of television news.”

One unnamed source told Darcy that the move may be part of an effort to appeal to President-elect Donald Trump,

“They want to get rid of Acosta to throw a bone to Trump,” the source claimed. “Midnight is not a serious offer when his ratings are among the best on the network.”

Darcy reported on Wednesday that Thompson was planning to overhaul CNN’s lineup in the wake of Trump’s 2024 presidential victory.

As part of the reported shakeup, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer is set to be moved from his current 6 p.m. show into a morning position.