After CNN+’s Abrupt Demise, Attention Turns To The Future Of Its Shows & Personalities
22.04.2022 - 23:01
/ deadline.com
CNN+ is on its way out, but the new leadership at Warner Bros. Discovery has given every indication that there could still be a future for some of its programming.
Much of the speculation has centered on the future of the highest-profile hire for the streaming service, Chris Wallace, who stunned his Fox News colleagues in December to announce that he was leaving. His show, Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?, has made news on a number of occasions with his probing sit-downs with the likes of Bob Iger and Jen Psaki, and it’s not too much of a leap to imagine him moving to CNN.
The network and Wallace have not said anything about his plans, but there has been some anticipation that Wallace, with his show’s extended and probing interviews, would be most likely to get such a berth. CNN has had a big hole to fill at 9 p.m. weeknights after Chris Cuomo’s firing, but there could also be a larger overhaul of the early-evening and primetime schedule under incoming CEO Chris Licht.
Meanwhile, Wallace’s executive producer, Javier de Diego, bristled at the sense of joy that some had over the demise of CNN+, led by former President Donald Trump, who issued a mocking statement.
Chris Wallace On His Move To CNN+: “No Longer Felt Comfortable With The Programming At Fox”
“Adding to an already awful day: People on here celebrating the demise of a project hundreds worked hard to accomplish, and praising their potential unemployment,” de Diego wrote. “Seemingly for political reasons. Can people be human for once? Have some empathy.”
In fact, hundreds could lose their jobs with the axing of CNN+, particularly as Warner Bros Discovery moves to post-merger cost-cutting mode. The abrupt way that the closure was handled, with some learning via news