Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Monday, February 27th, 2023

CNN's perplexing plans for 9:00 p.m.

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Monday, February 27th, 2023.

CNN'S PERPLEXING PLANS FOR 9:00 P.M.
Variety's Brian Steinberg has a piece today about the future of CNN - specifically, what the network is planning for in its 9:00 p.m. hour. 

I've written quite a bit in recent months about the network and my doubts that Warner Bros. Discovery executives had a clear sense of what they wanted the network to be. There were a lot of vague statements from David Zaslav and John Malone, who reportedly want the network to be "less partisan" (whatever that means) and less focused on just the news.

But while there has been a lot of public guidance about what WBD executives DON'T want, no one seems to have a sense of what the revamped CNN SHOULD look like. I've spoken with multiple people at the network who remain perplexed by CNN CEO Chris Licht's vision for the network. "I'm not sure that "different than MSNBC and Fox is really an effective rallying cry for the troops," one mid-level executive told me last week. "I've heard everything from true crime docs to hour-long one-on-one interviews being pitched for 9:00 p.m.," a producer told me. "I have no fucking idea what's going on."

According to Steinberg, the plans for CNN's 9:00 p.m. block seems to to throw a bunch of random one-off specials and breaking news interviews into the timeslot, all under the umbrella of CNN Presents:

Starting this week, the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed news outlet will fill the hour with a range of different special reports, all under the rubric of “CNN Primetime.” Future 9 p.m. hours could include one-on-one interviews with newsmakers; town halls that put government officials in direct contact with the people affected by policy decisions; and other programs that feature surprising “gets” and scoops. The programming gambit backs away from the tried-and-true practice of relying on a single anchor or opinion host in the time slot, home to Sean Hannity, Alex Wagner and Rachel Maddow, and banks instead on creative ways of analyzing the news cycle.

CNN announced earlier Monday that anchor Laura Coates would on Wednesday at 9 p.m. gather defense and prosecution analysts and criminal trial veterans to examine the much-scrutinized Murdaugh double murder. On Thursday, anchor Sara Sidner will host what is billed as “a CNN Primetime event” that features White House correspondent Arlette Saenz interviewing First Lady Dr. Jill Biden during her visit to Africa. The First Lady is expected to address criticisms related to President Biden’s age in his potential quest for re-election. Meanwhile, Jake Tapper is expected to interview Bill Maher — the comedian who hosts “Real Time” for CNN corporate sibling HBO — on Tuesday night at 9 p.m.

My first question is....who is the target audience for this type of approach? Does anyone at WBD think there's a market for an hour of Jake Tapper and Bill Maher? And how do you even promote an hour in which every night has some random, unexpected piece of programming? One night it's a serious news-driven Town Hall, the next night it's a true crime roundtable. Oh, but there's more:

One of the advantages of the current “CNN Primetime” format is that it leaves things open to more tinkering. CNN could offer other new concepts at 9 p.m. in weeks to come. Another idea under consideration is special primetime editions of regular shows on the schedule that could feature those programs’ anchors with big scoops or interviews, according to the person familiar with the matter.

And CNN has in recent weeks considered the idea of bringing talent not currently on its roster to host occasional or semi-regular hours. CNN CEO Chris Licht has been talking to people both under the Warner Bros. Discovery umbrella and outside of It. Among the names that have surfaced in recent press reports are Gayle King of CBS News — who worked on a show Licht once led — and Charles Barkley, who recently extended his deal with Warner Bros. Discovery’s sports division.

Luckily, no one in Stenberg's piece mentioned the word "synergy," but I'm sure it was spoken inside the company's executive suites. 

But honestly, this approach feels more like an acknowledgement that executives don't know what to do rather than an approach they believe will work. I suspect the theory is "well, we'll try a bunch of stuff and maybe something will pop." Which doesn't strike me as the best approach for the most important hour of the day for CNN.

And based on the limited feedback I've received today after the Variety piece posted, many of the CNN troops aren't exactly enthused about the checkerboard approach to the network's nine o'clock hour. "I can't wait to be part of Chip and Joanna documentary on fixing up damaged housing in the Ukraine," one producer emailed me. A reporter at the network sent me a private message that included a link to the Variety story and a GIF of a cartoon character repeatedly being hit on the head with a skillet. I'm assuming that wasn't meant as a positive outlook on the plans.

I FEEL AS IF I SORTA UNDERSTAND THE NEW TWITTER
Ryan Broderick's newsletter Garbage Day is a great one to read if you want to understand more about the Internet and social media. Today's edition is about Twitter and while that's a subject that isn't strictly TV or streaming related, the entertainment industry uses Twitter more than most people, so I suspect many of you find its recent changes as perplexing as I do. Twitter drives a decent amount of traffic to this newsletter, so the fact that it is much less useful to me matters quite a bit.

You should read the entire piece, because Broderick does a really great job at parsing out what changes have been made behind the scenes and the best way to manipulate it:

So my working theory became that the For You algorithm initially launched using accounts tagged for Twitter Topics, the sorting tool the platform created in 2019.

I also noticed that the algorithm seems to prioritize tweets that are talking about already-viral content, as in quote tweets or tweets that can easily fit within trending topics. This would explain, partially, why users are reporting seeing quote tweets about the same posts over and over and over again. I’ve noticed that same effect tends to happen on posts that fit within different subreddits on Reddit too. A funny or cringey picture of a “help wanted” sign ending up on r/pics and r/antiwork, for instance. The fact that Musk is both a huge embarrassing nerd and also launching Twitter Coins, which are literally a thing Reddit already has, made me start thinking about Twitter as a sort of meaner Reddit.

There is so much about the current iteration of Twitter that confuses me. For instance, why the feed named "following" only includes random people I follow. To see the tweets of everyone I follow, I have to look at both the "For You" and "Following" feeds, which seems...dumb?

ODDS AND SODS
* NBC announced today that a new season of The Wall will premiere on April 11th and The Weakest Link will return on April 17th.

* Season four of Celebrity Game Face premieres Thursday, April 6th on E!

* Think that Kiss is the band with the most crappy licensed merchandise? Let me introduce you to The Beatles.

* TLC has announced new season premiere dates for six of its returning unscripted-ish shows. Dr. Pimple Popper premieres Wednesday, April 5th; 90 Day Fiance: Love In Paradise premieres Monday, April 17th; You, Me & My Ex premieres Monday, April 17th; 7 Little Johnstons premieres on Tuesday, April 18th; Doubling Down With The Derricos premieres on Tuesday, May 30th and Save My Skin premieres on Wednesday, June 14th.

* Nine true crime shows worth watching on Viaplay.

TWEET OF THE DAY

Click Here to see the list of all of the upcoming premiere dates for the next few months.

SEE YOU TUESDAY!

If you have any feedback, send it along to Rick@AllYourScreens.com and follow me on Twitter @aysrick.