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CNN’s Deck Chairs & An End to “The Neeraj Problem”

News and notes on the cable news trade—CNN’s shakeup, the youth double-down, and CBS News’ new chapter.

CNN’s post-Licht leadership quadrumvirate announced a new primetime lineup that will see Abby Phillip and Laura Coates taking over the 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. hours, respectively.
CNN’s post-Licht leadership quadrumvirate announced a new primetime lineup that will see Abby Phillip and Laura Coates taking over the 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. hours, respectively. Photo: Robyn Beck/Getty Images
Dylan Byers
August 17, 2023

On Monday, the day of Donald Trump’s indictment in Georgia, MSNBC achieved the rare distinction of being the most-watched cable network on television and, during Rachel Maddow’s prime time interview with Hillary Clinton, the most-watched network on television, period. The landmark ratings performance—3.1 million viewers across prime time (its highest of the year so far), and 3.9 million during the hour of the interview—was a result of fortuitous circumstances, of course: Trump happened to get indicted on the one day of the week that Maddow still hosts her primetime show, and Maddow also happened to have had a pre-scheduled interview with Trump’s former political rival. On some level, the stars just aligned.