Streaming News Threw Kasie Hunt Some Curves. Now She’s Straightening Them Out
26.09.2023 - 14:25
/ variety.com
Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Kasie Hunt left a fast-track career at NBC News in 2021 to dip her toes into digital waters at CNN. Two years later, she’s just starting to find out whether she might sink or swim. On Wednesday, Hunt will launch “State of the Race,” a new hour-long weekday show for CNN’s international service focused on U.S.
politics and the 2024 election. “It won’t be any less sophisticated than what my most specific viewers in Washington are hearing, the ones who are my sources,” she says. Expect to hear from people who know how political campaigns work and why candidates make the decisions they do.
Could the program show up for U.S. audiences on CNN Max, the new live-streaming service set to debut the same day? .There is a strong expectation within CNN that the new product will feature several hours of CNNI. “That question is above my pay grade,” says Hunt.
“Race” starts just after CNN awarded Hunt another heady assignment, anchoring “Early Start,” the 5 a.m. hour that kicks off its weekday schedule in the U.S. Hunt has big plans, including segments devoted to international reporting and sports; a “restart” segment at 5:30 a.m.
for viewers tuning in a little later; and a new name for the show which will be unveiled in days to come. The new roles will have Hunt waking up in the wee hours of the morning Monday through Friday, then hanging around to lead her second program at 11 a.m. eastern.
“It’s a lot, but honestly, I’m not scared of hard work,” says Hunt, 38 years old. “I was working Capitol Hill. Long days are the feature, not the bug.” These weren’t necessarily the jobs Hunt saw for herself on July 16, 2021, when she announced in the final minutes of “Way Too Early,” the MSNBC program she anchored
.