On Monday, CNN announced a new programming lineup to breathe some life into its flailing ratings. Some rising talents are being given a chance to make their mark and some big shows are being given to the usual people.

This is the first major change announced by CNN’s leadership since former CEO Chris Licht left the network. CNN’s primetime lineup has flailed since Chris Cuomo was fired in late 2021.

The shakeup means some longtime reporters are being given anchor positions. Two of those are Abby Phillip and Manu Raju. And, diversity. Veteran anchors like Chris Wallace and Christiane Amanpour are being welcomed back to the forefront.

The new schedule gives diverse talent more visibility within CNN’s programming lineup, too. Two evening anchors are women of color, and women will anchor all news between 7pm ET and midnight — with the exception of Anderson Cooper at 8pm.

Weekday evenings: The new schedule moves anchor Alisyn Camerota out of the daily evening lineup to do reporting for CNN’s long-form unit.

• Phillip, a political reporter, will anchor a new show at 10 pm ET, while chief legal analyst Laura Coates will anchor one at 11 pm.
• Pamela Brown will have her own hour-long show at 3 pm called “The Bulletin with Pamela Brown”
• Jake Tapper’s show, “The Lead,” will continue from 4 pm to 6 pm, followed by Wolf Blitzer’s “The Situation Room” until 7 pm.
• “Erin Burnett’s Out Front” remains at 7 pm, followed by “Anderson Cooper 360” at 8 pm and “The Source with Kaitlan Collins” at 9 pm.

Phil Mattingly is moving to CNN This Morning as a co-anchor with Poppy Harlow, and Kasie Hunt will anchor Early Start.

What happens to Alisyn Camerota? She loses her 10 pm show that she anchored, CNN Tonight. She is moving to the long-form unit, which I assume is an investigative unit. It includes the Sunday evening series, The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper.

Will the personnel changes reverse the ratings slide CNN has been in since the 2020 presidential election? Ratings were down in July by 21% from July 2022. The average was 426,000 viewers.  For comparison, Fox News Channel finished July 2023 as the most-watched cable network in total day and primetime.

The network secured the top six programs in cable news with viewers and the top nine cable news shows in the 25-54 demo. Month over month, FNC is the only network to post growth in total viewers (+5%), while CNN and MSNBC were both down across the board.

This all means that CNN will have a permanent primetime schedule for the first time since 2021.

The leadership team said in a statement: “One of CNN’s key differentiators is our deep roster of experienced journalists, reporters and storytellers. Many joined CNN early in their careers and have grown with the network throughout the years. They are extraordinarily talented and share the same CNN sensibility: versatility, determination and an inquisitive and empathetic approach to reporting the news. By expanding the range and depth of our programming lineup across multiple dayparts, we are strengthening our reporting excellence throughout the schedule, elevating our ability to tell great stories across platforms, and doubling down on CNN’s position as the most trusted name in news.”

It also means that without Donald Trump to kick around as president, their ratings suffer. The network counted on Russia, Russia, Russia 24/7 for four years. Most political stories still usually include a Trump reference or comparison but since he’s not in the White House, it’s less intense.