''American Morning'' was an American three-hour morning television news program that aired on
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
from 2001 to 2011. ''American Morning'' debuted with anchors
Paula Zahn
Paula Ann Zahn (; born February 24, 1956) is an American journalist and newscaster who has been an anchor at ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, and CNN. She currently produces and hosts the true crime documentary series ''On the Case with Paula Zahn'' ...
and
Anderson Cooper
Anderson Hays Cooper (born June 3, 1967) is an American broadcast journalist and political commentator from the Vanderbilt family. He is the primary anchor of the CNN news broadcast show ''Anderson Cooper 360°''. In addition to his duties at C ...
on the day after the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
, five months earlier than planned, replacing ''CNN Early Edition'' and ''CNN Live This Morning''.
Cooper was replaced by
Bill Hemmer
William G. Hemmer (born November 14, 1964) is an American journalist, currently the co-anchor of ''America's Newsroom'' on the Fox News Channel, based in New York City.
Early life and education
On November 14, 1964, Hemmer was born in Cincinna ...
in February 2002. The show's next permanent co-anchors were
Soledad O'Brien
María de la Soledad Teresa O'Brien (born September 19, 1966) is an American broadcast journalist and executive producer. Since 2016, O'Brien has been the host for ''Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien,'' a nationally syndicated weekly talk show ...
and
Miles O'Brien, who fronted the show from 2003 to 2007. They were replaced by
John Roberts
John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including ''Nati ...
and
Kiran Chetry
Kiran Carrie Chetry ( ne, किरण क्षेत्री, born August 26, 1974) is a former American television broadcast journalist who, until 2011, was a cable news anchor for CNN's ''American Morning''. From 2001 to 2007 she reported ...
due to poor ratings. After Roberts and Chetry left in 2011, the show did not have a permanent anchor team and was shelved by CNN at the end of the year. ''American Morning'' was replaced by two new programs, ''
Early Start
''Early Start'' is an American news morning television show on CNN and also broadcast on CNN International. It premiered on January 2, 2012. Anchored by Christine Romans since 2014, the program airs weekdays from 5:00-6:00 a.m. ET.
History ...
'' and ''
Starting Point
''Starting Point'' (formerly ''Starting Point with Soledad O'Brien'') is a morning television show on CNN anchored by Soledad O'Brien. The show aired from January 2012 to June 2013. Together with the program '' Early Start'' (4.00–6.00 a.m. ...
''.
About the show
''American Morning'' was last hosted by
Ali Velshi
Ali Velshi (born October 29, 1968 or 1969) is a Canadian television journalist, a senior economic and business correspondent for NBC News since October 2016. He was also substitute anchor for '' Top Story with Tom Llamas'' on NBC News Now at we ...
,
Christine Romans
Christine Romans is a correspondent and anchor for CNN, and also an author. She previously worked for Reuters and Knight Ridder Financial News. She is the chief business correspondent for CNN, in addition anchors '' Early Start'' from 4 a.m. to ...
and
Carol Costello
Carol Costello (born October 11, 1961) is an American television anchor and former host of '' CNN Newsroom''. In 2017, she left CNN to join sister network HLN, based in Los Angeles. In October 2018, HLN announced that Costello would be let go, ...
. Others who appeared regularly were
Rob Marciano with the weather,
Sunny Hostin
Asunción "Sunny" Cummings Hostin (; born October 20, 1968) is an American lawyer, journalist, and television host. Hostin is co-host on ABC's morning talk show '' The View'' as well as the Senior Legal Correspondent and Analyst for ABC News. ...
on legal news, and CNN senior medical correspondent
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Sanjay Gupta (born October 23, 1969) is an American neurosurgeon, medical reporter, and writer. He serves as associate chief of the neurosurgery service at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, associate professor of neurosurgery at t ...
as well as
Elizabeth Cohen
Elizabeth Cohen (born Elizabeth Sondra Schwartz) is an American television news journalist for CNN. She is the channel's senior medical correspondent and appears on various programs.
Early life
She was born Elizabeth Sondra Schwartz, the daughter ...
with health-related reports.
''American Morning'' maintained a stronger focus on political, domestic and global stories than many U.S. morning shows, as demonstrated by its slogan "the most news in the morning," although it did have segments related to celebrities and entertainment news. There are usually more scripted segments on ''American Morning'' than on other morning shows. The program mainly aimed to attract viewers who prefer a more straightforward morning show, without the amount of anchor banter found on the competition. Its main competitors were
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
' ''
Fox & Friends
''Fox & Friends'' is an American daily morning news and talk program that airs on Fox News. It premiered on February 1, 1998, and is currently hosted by Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt and Brian Kilmeade on weekdays. Will Cain, Rachel Campos-Du ...
'' and
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
's ''
Morning Joe
''Morning Joe'' is an American morning news and liberal talk show, airing weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time Zone, Eastern Time on the cable news channel MSNBC. It features former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough r ...
''.
''American Morning'' aired live every weekday from 6 to 9 am
EST. After years of operating from a streetside studio at the
1271 Avenue of the Americas
1271 Avenue of the Americas is a 48-story skyscraper on Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas), between 50th and 51st Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by architect Wallace Harrison of Harrison, Abr ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, the show moved north to an indoor set at the CNN studios in the
Time Warner Center
Deutsche Bank Center (also One Columbus Circle and formerly Time Warner Center) is a mixed-use building on Columbus Circle in Manhattan, New York City. The building occupies the western side of Columbus Circle and straddles the border between ...
at
Columbus Circle
Columbus Circle is a traffic circle and heavily trafficked intersection in the New York City borough of Manhattan, located at the intersection of Eighth Avenue, Broadway, Central Park South ( West 59th Street), and Central Park West, at the so ...
which was shared with the
HLN show ''
Showbiz Tonight
''Showbiz Tonight'' is a defunct American entertainment news program that aired from February 20, 2005, until February 6, 2014, on HLN. ''Showbiz Tonight'' was hosted by A. J. Hammer at CNN New York at the time of its cancellation. The show re ...
''. In October 2006, AM received a redesigned set, along with new music and graphics.
On September 26, 2007, ''American Morning'' began broadcasting in
high-definition television
High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...
.
Originally AM aired from 7am to 10am. After the cancellation of ''
CNN Daybreak
''CNN Daybreak'' is an American early morning newscast aired on CNN, anchored from New York by Carol Costello. It debuted on June 1, 1980, the same day CNN went live.
First program
The first program to air live weekdays on the network, it preced ...
'' in November 2005, the program was expanded to four hours, 6am to 10am. However, the air time was reduced in October 2006 to 6am to 9am, after the expansion of ''
CNN Newsroom
''CNN Newsroom'' (also simply known as ''Newsroom'') is an American news programming block that airs on CNN.
Broadcasting for 43 hours each week, ''Newsroom'' features live and taped news reports, in addition to analysis from experts on the issu ...
''.
History
2001–2009
''American Morning'' originally premiered on September 12, 2001.
Paula Zahn
Paula Ann Zahn (; born February 24, 1956) is an American journalist and newscaster who has been an anchor at ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, and CNN. She currently produces and hosts the true crime documentary series ''On the Case with Paula Zahn'' ...
began anchoring the program five months early due to the
9/11
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
attacks which had occurred the previous morning.
Jack Cafferty
Jack Cafferty (born December 14, 1942) is a former CNN commentator and occasional host of specials. In the summer of 2005, Cafferty joined '' The Situation Room''. He left CNN after November 15, 2012.
Career
Cafferty started his career in Reno, ...
and
Anderson Cooper
Anderson Hays Cooper (born June 3, 1967) is an American broadcast journalist and political commentator from the Vanderbilt family. He is the primary anchor of the CNN news broadcast show ''Anderson Cooper 360°''. In addition to his duties at C ...
joined her as co-hosts and helped deliver news on the attacks.
In February 2002,
Bill Hemmer
William G. Hemmer (born November 14, 1964) is an American journalist, currently the co-anchor of ''America's Newsroom'' on the Fox News Channel, based in New York City.
Early life and education
On November 14, 1964, Hemmer was born in Cincinna ...
moved to New York to become Paula Zahn's co-host, replacing Anderson Cooper. In April 2003, Bill Hemmer anchored the program solo when Paula Zahn moved to CNN primetime.
Heidi Collins
Heidi Collins (born Heidi Elmquist; June 1, 1967) is an American correspondent and news anchor for KMSP-TV Fox 9 News in Minneapolis – Saint Paul prior to her departure on July 29, 2013. She formerly worked for CNN.
Life and career
Collins wa ...
and
Daryn Kagan
Daryn A. Kagan (born January 26, 1963) is an American broadcast journalist, formerly a news anchor for CNN.
From 1994 to 2006, Kagan served as an anchor and correspondent for CNN, in CNN's corporate headquarters of Atlanta, Georgia. She anc ...
temporarily hosted with Bill Hemmer before
Soledad O'Brien
María de la Soledad Teresa O'Brien (born September 19, 1966) is an American broadcast journalist and executive producer. Since 2016, O'Brien has been the host for ''Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien,'' a nationally syndicated weekly talk show ...
debuted as co-host.
In January 2002, CNN executives were embarrassed to find out an on-air promotion that was not approved by top executives was being aired that called Paula Zahn "sexy" and included the sound of a zipper. CNN said that the advertisement was approved by a woman in the productions department. CNN later apologized to Paula Zahn.
In June 2005, Bill Hemmer left CNN and was replaced by
Miles O'Brien. Heidi Collins was replaced by
Carol Costello
Carol Costello (born October 11, 1961) is an American television anchor and former host of '' CNN Newsroom''. In 2017, she left CNN to join sister network HLN, based in Los Angeles. In October 2018, HLN announced that Costello would be let go, ...
. Jack Cafferty left the show later that summer. The show moved to the Time Warner Center, and shared a set with the CNN Headline News program ''
Showbiz Tonight
''Showbiz Tonight'' is a defunct American entertainment news program that aired from February 20, 2005, until February 6, 2014, on HLN. ''Showbiz Tonight'' was hosted by A. J. Hammer at CNN New York at the time of its cancellation. The show re ...
''. Costello later left the program and was not replaced; she returned in 2011. In October 2006, the show received a redesigned set, along with new music and graphics.
Due to disappointing
Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
, CNN announced the replacement of Miles O'Brien and Soledad O'Brien with
Kiran Chetry
Kiran Carrie Chetry ( ne, किरण क्षेत्री, born August 26, 1974) is a former American television broadcast journalist who, until 2011, was a cable news anchor for CNN's ''American Morning''. From 2001 to 2007 she reported ...
and
John Roberts
John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including ''Nati ...
as program hosts effective April 16, 2007. In the first quarter of 2007, ''
Fox and Friends
''Fox & Friends'' is an American daily morning news and talk program that airs on Fox News. It premiered on February 1, 1998, and is currently hosted by Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt and Brian Kilmeade on weekdays. Will Cain, Rachel Campos-Du ...
'' on
Fox News Channel
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
averaged 769,000 viewers, CNN's ''American Morning'' averaged 372,000 and
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
's ''
Imus in the Morning
''Imus in the Morning'' was a long-running radio show hosted by Don Imus. The show originated on June 2, 1968, on various stations in the Western United States and Cleveland, Ohio before settling on WNBC radio in New York City in 1971. In Octob ...
'' averaged 361,000 viewers at the time of its cancellation by MSNBC on April 11, 2007.
2010–2011
On November 22, 2010, ''American Morning'' underwent a lighter graphics change.
2011 saw the departures of Roberts and Chetry.
Ali Velshi
Ali Velshi (born October 29, 1968 or 1969) is a Canadian television journalist, a senior economic and business correspondent for NBC News since October 2016. He was also substitute anchor for '' Top Story with Tom Llamas'' on NBC News Now at we ...
initially filled in alongside Chetry before the latter's departure in July. Chetry was replaced by
Christine Romans
Christine Romans is a correspondent and anchor for CNN, and also an author. She previously worked for Reuters and Knight Ridder Financial News. She is the chief business correspondent for CNN, in addition anchors '' Early Start'' from 4 a.m. to ...
and
Carol Costello
Carol Costello (born October 11, 1961) is an American television anchor and former host of '' CNN Newsroom''. In 2017, she left CNN to join sister network HLN, based in Los Angeles. In October 2018, HLN announced that Costello would be let go, ...
.
In October 2011, CNN announced a revamp of its morning lineup to be more competitive against cable entries ''
Fox & Friends
''Fox & Friends'' is an American daily morning news and talk program that airs on Fox News. It premiered on February 1, 1998, and is currently hosted by Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt and Brian Kilmeade on weekdays. Will Cain, Rachel Campos-Du ...
'' on
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
and ''
Morning Joe
''Morning Joe'' is an American morning news and liberal talk show, airing weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time Zone, Eastern Time on the cable news channel MSNBC. It features former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough r ...
'' on
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
. ''American Morning'' would be replaced by two new programs from January 2, 2012, ''Early Start'' (5-7 a.m.) and ''Starting Point'' (7-9 a.m.) (both times ET). The shows are expected to be less politically focused and cover a broad range of news.
The final broadcast of ''American Morning'' on December 30, 2011 was anchored by
Alina Cho
Alina Cho is an American journalist who was a television correspondent and former host of CNN's "Fashion: Backstage Pass", and is an Editor at Large at Ballantine Bantam Dell, a division of Penguin Random House. Cho is responsible for developing ...
and
Deborah Feyerick
Deborah Feyerick is an American journalist and National Correspondent for CNN and CNN International.
Early life
Deborah Feyerick spent her early childhood in France and UK before moving to the United States. Feyerick grew up in New Jersey and ...
. Cho and Feyerick brought show staff onto the set, thanking them for their efforts.
Previous hosts
*
Anderson Cooper
Anderson Hays Cooper (born June 3, 1967) is an American broadcast journalist and political commentator from the Vanderbilt family. He is the primary anchor of the CNN news broadcast show ''Anderson Cooper 360°''. In addition to his duties at C ...
(2002)
*
Paula Zahn
Paula Ann Zahn (; born February 24, 1956) is an American journalist and newscaster who has been an anchor at ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, and CNN. She currently produces and hosts the true crime documentary series ''On the Case with Paula Zahn'' ...
(2002–2003)
*
Daryn Kagan
Daryn A. Kagan (born January 26, 1963) is an American broadcast journalist, formerly a news anchor for CNN.
From 1994 to 2006, Kagan served as an anchor and correspondent for CNN, in CNN's corporate headquarters of Atlanta, Georgia. She anc ...
(2002–2003)
*
Jack Cafferty
Jack Cafferty (born December 14, 1942) is a former CNN commentator and occasional host of specials. In the summer of 2005, Cafferty joined '' The Situation Room''. He left CNN after November 15, 2012.
Career
Cafferty started his career in Reno, ...
(2002–2005)
*
Bill Hemmer
William G. Hemmer (born November 14, 1964) is an American journalist, currently the co-anchor of ''America's Newsroom'' on the Fox News Channel, based in New York City.
Early life and education
On November 14, 1964, Hemmer was born in Cincinna ...
(2002–2005)
*
Andy Serwer (2003)
*
Heidi Collins
Heidi Collins (born Heidi Elmquist; June 1, 1967) is an American correspondent and news anchor for KMSP-TV Fox 9 News in Minneapolis – Saint Paul prior to her departure on July 29, 2013. She formerly worked for CNN.
Life and career
Collins wa ...
(2003–2005)
*
Soledad O'Brien
María de la Soledad Teresa O'Brien (born September 19, 1966) is an American broadcast journalist and executive producer. Since 2016, O'Brien has been the host for ''Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien,'' a nationally syndicated weekly talk show ...
(2003–2007)
*
Carol Costello
Carol Costello (born October 11, 1961) is an American television anchor and former host of '' CNN Newsroom''. In 2017, she left CNN to join sister network HLN, based in Los Angeles. In October 2018, HLN announced that Costello would be let go, ...
(2005–2006, 2011)
*
Miles O'Brien (2005–2007)
*
John Roberts
John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including ''Nati ...
(2007–2010)
*
Kiran Chetry
Kiran Carrie Chetry ( ne, किरण क्षेत्री, born August 26, 1974) is a former American television broadcast journalist who, until 2011, was a cable news anchor for CNN's ''American Morning''. From 2001 to 2007 she reported ...
(2007–2011)
*
Ali Velshi
Ali Velshi (born October 29, 1968 or 1969) is a Canadian television journalist, a senior economic and business correspondent for NBC News since October 2016. He was also substitute anchor for '' Top Story with Tom Llamas'' on NBC News Now at we ...
(2010–2011)
*
Christine Romans
Christine Romans is a correspondent and anchor for CNN, and also an author. She previously worked for Reuters and Knight Ridder Financial News. She is the chief business correspondent for CNN, in addition anchors '' Early Start'' from 4 a.m. to ...
(2010–2011)
See also
*''
Today (American TV program)
''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...
''
*''
Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...
''
References
External links
American Morning site*
{{Commons category, American Morning
2001 American television series debuts
2011 American television series endings
2000s American television news shows
2010s American television news shows
CNN original programming
English-language television shows