CNN Tonight
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''CNN Tonight'' is the title of several news programs that were broadcast by U.S. cable network
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
. The ''CNN Tonight'' branding has primarily been used for transitional programs aired by CNN in the evening and
prime time Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
hours as part of changes to its programming lineup—including the departure (either voluntary or via termination) or reassignment of anchors. It was first used for a short-lived program in 2001 anchored by Bill Hemmer. In November 2009, ''CNN Tonight'' temporarily replaced ''
Lou Dobbs Tonight ''Lou Dobbs Tonight'' is an American political and financial talk program that was hosted by Lou Dobbs. The program initially aired on CNN from its launch under the title ''Moneyline'', as its main financial news program. The program later shift ...
'' after Lou Dobbs' departure from the network. In April 2014, a third iteration premiered as a 10 p.m. ET program, as part of schedule changes following the cancellation of '' Piers Morgan Live''; this iteration would later become a full-time program hosted by Don Lemon, and was renamed '' Don Lemon Tonight'' in May 2021. In December 2021, the title was reinstated in the 9 p.m. hour as a replacement for '' Cuomo Prime Time'' (and produced by that program's staff), after Chris Cuomo was fired from the network over allegations and evidence of
sexual misconduct Sexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature which exists on a spectrum that may include a broad range of sexual behaviors considered unwelcome. This includes conduct considered inappropriate on an individual or societal basis of morality, ...
. Don Lemon departed his program in October 2022 to move to '' CNN This Morning''; on October 10, ahead of the 2022 midterm elections,
Jake Tapper Jacob Paul Tapper (born March 12, 1969) is an American journalist. He is the lead Washington anchor for CNN, hosts the weekday television news show ''The Lead with Jake Tapper'', and co-hosts the Sunday morning public affairs program ''State of ...
became an interim host of the 9 p.m. hour, and ''Don Lemon Tonight'' was replaced with hours of ''CNN Tonight'' hosted by Alisyn Camerota and Laura Coates. In late-February 2023, the 9 p.m. hour was replaced with an
anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...
of special reports and interviews under the branding ''CNN Primetime''. The hour's permanent replacement, '' The Source with Kaitlan Collins'', premiered on July 10. In August 2023, CNN subsequently announced that Abby Phillip and Laura Coates would become permanent hosts of the 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. hours as '' CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip'' and '' Laura Coates Live'' respectively.


History


As a transitional replacement for ''Lou Dobbs Tonight''

On November 11, 2009, Lou Dobbs abruptly announced his departure from CNN and ''Lou Dobbs Tonight'' to "pursue new opportunities". His departure came amid growing controversy over his promotion of Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories. CNN announced that ''Lou Dobbs Tonight'' would be replaced in the 7:00 p.m. ET hour by ''CNN Tonight'', an interim program hosted by a rotation of anchors (which would include
John Roberts John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American jurist serving since 2005 as the 17th chief justice of the United States. He has been described as having a Moderate conservatism, moderate conservative judicial philosophy, thoug ...
, Erica Hill, and Tom Foreman), until the premiere of a new program hosted by CNN's chief national correspondent John King. ''CNN Tonight'' ran until January 18, 2010, when '' The Situation Room'' was pushed into its timeslot by the premiere of '' Rick's List''. Its permanent replacement, '' John King, USA,'' premiered on March 22, 2010.


As a transitional program in 2014, ''Don Lemon Tonight''

On April 10, 2014, after the cancellation of '' Piers Morgan Live'', CNN announced that it would begin to air CNN original series and documentaries in the 9:00 p.m. ET hour to replace
Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; O'Meara, born 30 March 1965) is an English journalist and media personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, at the age of 29, he was appointed editor of ...
(as part of a larger push towards
factual A fact is a truth, true data, datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance. Standard reference works are often used to Fact-checking, check facts. Science, Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement by ...
and
reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of everything in existence; everything that is not imagination, imaginary. Different Culture, cultures and Academic discipline, academic disciplines conceptualize it in various ways. Philosophical questions abo ...
content by new CNN head
Jeff Zucker Jeffrey Adam Zucker (born April 9, 1965) is an American businessman and media executive. Zucker was the president of CNN Worldwide from 2013 to 2022. He oversaw CNN, CNN International, HLN, and CNN Digital. He was previously CEO of NBCUniver ...
), and premiere the new program ''CNN Tonight'' at 10:00 p.m., which would feature "a live hour of the day’s biggest stories". The hour had most recently been used for sporadic broadcasts of the ''
Anderson Cooper 360° ''Anderson Cooper 360°'' (commonly shortened to either ''AC-360'' or ''360'') is an American television news show on CNN and CNN International, hosted by CNN journalist and news anchor Anderson Cooper. Current segments include ‘Reality Check ...
'' spin-off ''AC360° Later'',
pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...
episodes of ''The Don Lemon Show'', and special coverage of the disappearance of
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370/MAS370) was an international passenger flight operated by Malaysia Airlines that disappeared from radar on 8 March 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia to its planned de ...
hosted by Don Lemon. ''CNN Tonight'' premiered on April 15, 2014, with Bill Weir anchoring from Boston to cover the one-year anniversary of the
Boston Marathon bombing The Boston Marathon bombing, sometimes referred to as simply the Boston bombing, was an Islamist domestic terrorist attack that took place during the 117th annual Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. Brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarna ...
. It returned to CNN's studio the following night, with Weir presenting the program from the set formerly used by ''Piers Morgan Live'' (albeit using a store-bought office desk placed off to the side from its main desk and interview area). Don Lemon later became the permanent host of the hour, after which it evolved from a straight newscast to a personality-based program similar to CNN's other prime time shows. On May 14, 2021, Lemon announced during that night's episode that it would be "the last night that we'll be ''CNN Tonight with Don Lemon"'', and teased a major change to the program on May 17. The following day, amid speculation by viewers that he was leaving CNN, Lemon announced on social media that the show was being renamed ''Don Lemon Tonight'' beginning May 17. He apologized for the confusion, saying that he "didn't mean to set the internet on fire".


As a transitional replacement for ''Cuomo Prime Time'' (2021-2023)

On December 1, 2021, CNN received allegations and documentary evidence that Chris Cuomo—who had already been suspended indefinitely following reports that he assisted in the defense against the sexual harassment allegations that led to the resignation of his brother
Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( , ; born December 6, 1957) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 until his resignation in 2021. A member of the Democratic Party and son of former governor Mario Cuomo, ...
as
governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor ...
—had engaged in
sexual misconduct Sexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature which exists on a spectrum that may include a broad range of sexual behaviors considered unwelcome. This includes conduct considered inappropriate on an individual or societal basis of morality, ...
involving a former colleague, represented by attorney Debra Katz. She has since claimed that this allegation precipitated his firing from CNN. On December 6, his show '' Cuomo Prime Time'' was cancelled and replaced with rotating anchors under the ''CNN Tonight'' branding, with Michael Smerconish hosting the first week of shows. The program was produced by the ''Cuomo Prime Time'' staff, and used a gold-tinted version of the graphics used by ''Don Lemon Tonight'' to differentiate it from Don Lemon's show. As of June 2022, the program had largely remained in third place among cable news channels in the 9 p.m. hour, behind ''MSNBC Prime'' (a retooling of '' The Rachel Maddow Show'' similarly featuring rotating anchors, after Maddow moved to a weekly schedule in May 2022 to accommodate other projects) and
Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City, U.S. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ow ...
's ''
Hannity ''Hannity'' is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative television political Talk show, talk program on Fox News hosted by Sean Hannity. Episodes air live at 9:00 p.m. from Monday through Thursday, while episodes that ai ...
''. On September 22, 2022, ahead of the
midterm elections Apart from general elections and by-elections, a midterm election refers to a type of election where the people can elect their representatives and other subnational officeholders (e.g. governor, members of local council) in the middle of the te ...
and Don Lemon's upcoming move to '' CNN This Morning'', it was announced that
Jake Tapper Jacob Paul Tapper (born March 12, 1969) is an American journalist. He is the lead Washington anchor for CNN, hosts the weekday television news show ''The Lead with Jake Tapper'', and co-hosts the Sunday morning public affairs program ''State of ...
would vacate his afternoon show '' The Lead'' and temporarily host ''CNN Tonight'' at 9:00 p.m., while Alisyn Camerota and Laura Coates would share a 10 p.m. hour of ''CNN Tonight'' to replace Lemon. ''Don Lemon Tonight'' aired its final episode on October 7, 2022. The premiere of ''CNN Tonight with Jake Tapper'' on October 10 featured interviews with
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
and
Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional w ...
; while still finishing third overall, it did see an improvement in average viewership over the hour in September 2022, and that night's edition finished second behind MSNBC's '' Alex Wagner Tonight'' in the 25-54 demographic. In January 2023, it was announced that Camerota and Coates would host the 10 and 11 p.m. hours of ''CNN Tonight'' respectively. On February 3, 2023, CNN began to air ''Overtime'', the post-show segment of
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
's ''
Real Time with Bill Maher ''Real Time with Bill Maher'' is an American television talk show that airs weekly on HBO, hosted by stand-up comedy, comedian and political satire, political satirist Bill Maher. Much like his previous series ''Politically Incorrect'' on Comedy ...
'', as part of the 11:00 p.m. hour of ''CNN Tonight'' on Friday nights. On February 28, the 9:00 p.m. ''CNN Tonight'' was replaced by an anthology of various special reports, town halls, and interviews under the blanket branding ''CNN Primetime''. By March 2023, Coates had been quietly dropped from the 11:00 p.m. hour, thus extending Camerota's program to two hours; a CNN employee told ''
Business Insider ''Business Insider'' (stylized in all caps: BUSINESS INSIDER; known from 2021 to 2023 as INSIDER) is a New York City–based multinational financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Inside ...
'' that the network had cited a lack of employees available to staff that hour. Coates would then be named CNN's chief legal analyst in May 2023. On May 17, 2023, CNN announced that Kaitlan Collins would host a new show in the 9 p.m.. In early-July, it was announced that the new program, '' The Source with Kaitlan Collins'', would premiere on July 10. On August 14, 2023, CNN announced changes to its primetime lineup resulting in the end of ''CNN Tonight''-branded programs, with Abby Phillip hosting the new 10 p.m. show '' CNN NewsNight'', and Coates becoming permanent host of the 11 p.m. hour as '' Laura Coates Live''.


References

, rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" , Preceded by
''The Source w/ Kaitlan Collins'' , rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" , CNN Tonight
10:00 PM – 12:00 AM , style="text-align:center;" , Succeeded by
''Anderson Cooper 360°'' (replay)
(Following First Airing) , - , style="text-align:center;" , '' CNN Newsroom Live''
(Following Second Airing) , - {{U.S. evening news programs 2001 American television series debuts 2009 American television series debuts 2021 American television series debuts 2001 American television series endings 2010 American television series endings 2000s American television talk shows 2010s American television talk shows 2020s American television talk shows CNN original programming American English-language television shows