CNN May Move Jim Acosta To Midnight ET Slot, Sparking Concerns Over Timing As Donald Trump Takes Office
CNN has told anchor Jim Acosta that they want to move him from his morning ET slot to midnight ET, a less high profile time period where cable news networks have traditionally run reruns of programming from earlier in the day.
Acosta has anchored a 10 am. ET show for almost a year, having moved from a weekend time slot. Acosta was told earlier this week that the network wanted to make the move as part of an anchor shuffle, according to a source. Status newsletter first reported on the potential move.
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During Donald Trump’s first administration, Acosta was one of the most recognizable journalists on the beat as CNN’s chief White House correspondent. The president, irate over Acosta’s and the network’s coverage, often got into testy exchanges with him or berated him at press conferences and other events. At one point, the White House sought to revoke Acosta’s hard pass, and the network challenged the move in court. A federal judge sided with CNN and ordered the administration to return the pass.
Acosta has continued to feature critical coverage of Trump in his morning hour. On Thursday, he ended his show with a defense of a free press that paraphrased one of Trump’s frequent attacks on the media. “We are not the enemy of the people; we are the defenders of the people,” Acosta said. Word of the proposal to move Acosta sparked some pushback on social media, particularly on Bluesky, the platform where many disaffected Twitter users have migrated since it was purchased by Elon Musk.
When CNN’s CEO Mark Thompson made the proposal to Acosta to move his show, the anchor told him that the timing appeared to be suspicious. His ratings have held up in the time slot and, according to Status, he was told that the move was not for audience reasons or for the content of his show. CNN is reportedly mulling other changes to its lineup, including moving Wolf Blitzer to the morning with Pamela Brown.
CNN declined to comment. A two-hour show starting at midnight would reach a primetime audience on the West Coast, and the show would likely be based in Los Angeles. With the network’s global footprint, the show would be aired in the mornings in Europe and in the afternoon in Hong Kong.
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