It’s no secret that CNN under its new boss Jeff Zucker (an executive with a long history of success) the network will undergo some changes. And some have surfaced today:
Pundit power couple James Carville and Mary Matalin will not be continuing their contracts with CNN, according to FishbowlDC sources. In addition, Bill Bennett and Maria Cardona are also parting ways with the network, although CNN Espanol will keep Cardona on board.
In other news, RedState‘s Erick Erickson will be foregoing his CNN contract and sources say he will be heading to Fox News.
Erickson’s departure from CNN is not a surprise: his style of conservativism will likely get a far bigger following on Fox News. If you recall, Glen Beck didn’t really take off until he moved to Fox News — although he later veered too far into the land of black helicopters and Twlight Zone themes and he and Fox News parted company. Erickson has huge presence on the Internet with his blog and Fox News’ conservative audience will make his cable appearances a bit more synergistic, given Fox’s hard-core Republican audience.
In the case of the political odd couple, other factors were at play:
Democratic strategist and CNN contributor James Carville and his wife Mary Matalin are parting ways with the network, he told TPM Tuesday. Carville said CNN wanted contributors who were more available and able to do live shots. “They told me they wanted to change the look,” Carville added. “It makes a lot of sense to me.” Carville said the network is interested in more panel-based programming, similar to “The Five” on Fox News.
Carville said he “loved” the time he spent at CNN and wishes it luck under new network president Jeff Zucker.
I’m predicting CNN’s ratings will go up under Zucker who will most likely keep the news flavor and news priority of CNN but start peppering it with additional features and style to make it more competitive with the more partisan Fox News and MSNBC. CNN has many reporters and editors who are “old school,” an I’m predicting Zucker will help them flourish as he tries to expand CNN’s overall appeal to the market — and to America’s political center.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.