Wednesday, May 11, 2005
RIP Crossfire; Make Way for Blitzer
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer Already seen two hours a day (at noon and 5 p.m.), CNN's Wolf Blitzer will add 60 minutes of face time as anchor of a 3-to-6 p.m. political block targeted to launch in late July.
Don't look for the Wolf-man to howl with delight about being CNN's most visible talking head.
"Look, I'm a journalist, a reporter at heart," Blitzer, 57, says. "I take this seriously in terms of my responsibility, but the other stuff I don't take that seriously. I know I've got a job to do. I have to focus."
The new weekday show - no title yet - will be based in Washington. Sam Feist, senior executive producer of CNN's political programming, will call the shots.
To make room for Blitzer, the 3:30 p.m. Inside Politics, with Judy Woodruff, and 4:30 Crossfire will leave the schedule, CNN confirms. Both are out of the nation's capital.
Crossfire will have its final screamcast June 3. Woodruff's swan song is the same day, but IP will continue, in an expanded 3:30-to-5 p.m. format, until Blitzer's new show begins. No host yet.
Blitzer's staff will be selected from the Washington and Atlanta staffs of all three programs. No one is guaranteed a job, Blitzer says, but "a lot" will make the cut. For the others, "there will be other opportunities" at CNN.
Blitzer labels his increased visibility "a vote of confidence. I think our executives want me to be on the air more. I think the viewers like me, and I think I have good credibility with them."
UPDATE: Hollywood Reporter(via Reuters) has a good article about on this subject as well. You'll find it HERE.
# posted by ATN @ 8:09 AM 
