Don Lemon, Kaitlan Collins, Poppy Harlow to Lead CNN Morning Show in Shake Up

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Less than a year ago, Paramount Global found a new reason to cheer about the midnight hour. In December, the company did something few of its competitors could do: It struck a deal with Google to have three different late-night hosts weave a promotional message about the search-engine giant into their programs. On the night of December 15, Stephen Colbert, James Corden and Trevor Noah all nodded to Google during CBS’ “Late Show” and “Late Late Show” and Comedy Central’s “Daily Show.” The ad deal represented a vote of confidence in a sturdy portfolio of late-night programs that spanned broadcast and cable. Now, a good chunk of the talent in that collection is gearing up to move.

HBO and HBO Max Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys has a new title, Chairman and CEO, HBO and HBO Max Content.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Amara Walker, a CNN correspondent, will co-anchor the cable-news outlet’s weekend morning program, currently known as “New Day,” filling a role left vacant in June when Christi Paul decided to leave the network. Walker, who joined CNN in 2012, will work alongside co-anchor Boris Sanchez. The two will also anchor CNN’s 10 a.m.

Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon are spending another late night on set.

Jennifer Aniston holds on tight to a cute purple dog stuffed toy while filming night scenes for season three The Morning Show in New York City on Wednesday (September 28).

Reese Witherspoon looks to be on a very important phone call while filming new scenes for the upcoming season of The Morning Show on Tuesday evening (September 27) in New York City.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has promoted Matt Lappin.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” has promoted Matt Lappin to serve as co-executive producer of the late night show. In his new role, Lappin will help oversee the show’s daily creative direction; his promotion was announced on Tuesday by executive producers Stephen Colbert and Tom Purcell. Lappin was most recently senior supervising producer. As co-executive producer, he’ll be part of a team that also includes co-EPs Denise Rehrig and Tanya Michenvich Bracco. Together, they’re all helping Colbert and Purcell run the ship in the absence of former executive producer Chris Licht, who departed “The Late Show” earlier this year to take over CNN as its CEO.

Jennifer Aniston offers Jon Hamm a ride in her Porsche while filming scenes for the upcoming season of The Morning Show in New York City on Monday (September 26).

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Apple Music will take over as the sponsor of the NFL’s Super Bowl halftime show, replacing Pepsi as the key backer of the annual spectacle that typically draws one of the biggest single TV audiences of the year. “Music and sports hold a special place in our hearts, so we’re very excited Apple Music will be part of music and football’s biggest stage,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and Beats, in a prepared statement. “We’re looking forward to even more epic performances next year and beyond with the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show.” Apple has in recent months shown a greater interest in sports. Its streaming platform has struck deals with Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer to show games to subscribers. Sports rights have long been the province of traditional media companies like Fox, Disney, Paramount Global and NBCUniversal, but technology companies like Apple and Amazon have made a bigger play for those rights as they seek to lure consumers to their new broadband subscription-video services. Amazon, for its part, is now a major NFL partner thanks to its control of rights to “Thursday Night Football.”

amid an investigation into his involvement into advising his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, CNN has had a rotation of guest hosts in the 9 p.m. hour, rebranding Cuomo’s former hour “CNN Tonight.” Tapper will take a break from his regular show, “The Lead With Jake Tapper” to helm the 9 p.m. “CNN Tonight” hour.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Jake Tapper, Laura Coates and Alisyn Camerota will take on temporary assignments on CNN’s primetime schedule as the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed network prepares to cover the run-up to the 2022 midterm elections. Tapper, CNN’s chief Washington correspondent, will host the network’s 9 p.m. from Washington, while Camerota and Laura Coates will share anchor responsibilities between 10 p.m. and midnight. Tapper is the first anchor to get a semi-regular perch at 9 since the much-scrutinized departure of the time slot’s previous occupant, Chris Cuomo. Camerota. who has held down slots in both the morning and the afternoon, and Coates, a legal analyst who has in thepast been under consideration for a primetime assignment, will take over a time period that has been led by Don Lemon, who is moving soon to work on a new CNN morning program.

ABC has extended its deal with Jimmy Kimmel for the comedian’s late-night talk show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for another three years, on through Season 23.“After two decades at ABC, I am now looking forward to three years of what they call ‘quiet quitting,’” he joked in a statement Tuesday.The extension of Kimmel’s self-titled Emmy-winning series will make him one of the longest running hosts on TV, among the likes of Jay Leno, whose late-night show lasted 22 seasons.“For 20 years, Jimmy Kimmel has been a huge part of the ABC family and the heartbeat of late-night television,” Craig Erwich, president of ABC Entertainment, Hulu & Disney Branded Television Streaming Originals, said in a statement. “Not only has he entertained our audiences night after night with his sharp comedy, dynamic interviews and irreverent humor, but he has gotten us through some of the most momentous events in our history with optimism and heart.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor CNN’s new chief hopes primetime anchor Don Lemon can help the network gain ground in some of TV news’ toughest terrain. Chris Licht, who has vowed to tone down some of the more aggressive commentary at the network since taking its reins earlier this year, has enjoyed an eyebrow-raising streak in morning news. He launched the durable MSNBC franchise “Morning Joe” in 2007 and then helped CBS gain new momentum in the a.m. in 2012 by starting “CBS This Morning.” Neither program was the most-watched of its brethren, but Licht gained new viewership for the networks that backed him by providing more substantial conversation among anchors and ignoring some of the frillier elements of the time period, like cooking demonstrations or street interviews with passersby.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor There’s a last-minute change brewing at “60 Minutes.” When the venerable CBS newsmagazine launches its 55th season this Sunday, viewers may notice a twist at the end of the hour. The show is debuting a new end segment, something that its top producer hopes will resonate with crowds as much as previous codas like “Point/Counterpoint” or the musings of Andy Rooney did in their respective eras. “We have tried different things to fill the space, and they felt a little unsatisfying,” executive producer Bill Owens tells Variety. “There wasn’t a consistency to it. I ended up giving that time back to the stories and the correspondents, so they would each have 20 to 30 seconds more. They were all very happy to have that time, but it felt like something was missing.”

Chris Licht announced Thursday.Lemon will join Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow to replace current “New Day” hosts John Berman and Brianna Keilar.Lemon’s long-anticipated demotion comes after Licht was tasked by new corporate overlord Warner Bros. Discovery to shift CNN away from opinion-based shows to more centrist reporting of the news.