More News About the News

Once upon a time, either here or in comments on someone else's blog, I wrote a list of things that CNN should do to save itself after Jon Klein came on-board. The main thing that I wanted was to switch Anderson Cooper and Aaron Brown's timeslots, since Anderson appeals to a younger demographic that would be home later and might watch him along with Jon Stewart for news, and Aaron is more of a traditional network news host that works better earlier in the day.

Boy, I love it when I'm right.

I kinda saw it coming on Friday, when Erica Hill told Aaron Brown to have a good week off and he said, "It should be an interesting week" in a tone that foretold something big. But I didn't think that the two-hour, two-person NewsNight was so horrible, especially when Anderson was on location (and let's face it - Anderson should be perpetually on location, because he is at his best when he's anchoring from the field.) But it's only natural that things might be a little uncomfortable when the previous star is forced to share his position with the current star. And somehow I see Lou Dobbs' audience eating Aaron's show up.

(BTW, I had no idea that Lou Dobbs Tonight was such a cash cow. That explains why they've kept it as-is for so long, even if it's a sure-fire cure for insomnia.)

I still say that Paula Zahn needs to be sent packing or moved to midday (it's rumored that Daryn Kagan is on her way out) and that Larry King needs to be put to pasture. Maybe the latter will happen sooner than later, since they seem to be trying out new hosts in guesting gigs (and while Bob Costas ruffled feathers with his refusal to cover Natalee Holloway, I think that's kind of refreshing and he did an excellent job. And NO to Ryan Seacrest.) But I do think that things have been moving in a much more positive direction for CNN since Katrina, and no one could be happier about that than I am.

EDIT: Now TVNewser is backing off their earlier posting about what CNN's plans are for Brown. Apparently no one has any idea what's going on. Still think that he'd play better at 7 EST.