What we always knew was that we would have to be different. If you think about places like [CBS News or ABC News], those folks don’t have cable channels, so their FAST channel could be a lot of different things. We have a unique position that we were playing from, and so it took us a little time to figure out what that looks like. But I also believe that, in the end, we are figuring out what works for us, and when we keep it in this casual, fast-paced, energetic environment, we’re finding that people like watching.
Will there be an increase in live programming, or is it still going to remain the status quo?
I’m never going to say never. I’m just glad to be a part of a group that the company is investing in. I believe if they come and say, “Let’s do another live hour,” we’ll be ready for it. The viewers are certainly there.
In addition to being the ep of CNN Headlines, you are senior director of U.S. programming at CNN; what does that entail?
A lot. They’ve allowed me to do a lot of work when it comes to innovation. I spend a lot of my time figuring out how to make work easier for every journalist in our building. I also work on the live specials we’re doing, like Thanksgiving in America and the daytime version of our New Year’s Eve special. I get to be a jack-of-all-trades around here. It does keep me very busy, but I kind of like being able to hop around and not be stuck to one thing.
*Source: Amagi Analytics (Anoki, LG, Plex, Scripps, TCL IDEO, Vizio) and partner provided (Amazon Prime, Local Now, Pluto, Roku, Xumo). Amazon Prime and Xumo Monthly uniques contain estimates. Uniques are not available for Roku or Local Now.
