CNN’s Don Lemon wrapped up his eight-year run as host of “Don Lemon Tonight” with an emotional farewell on his present Friday.
The outspoken 56-year-old mentioned the problem of internet hosting the ratings-challenged 10 p.m. present and aired a montage of his best hits.
“I do know I used to be not all the time good as a result of nobody is ideal,” Lemon stated. “There are immense pressures that include this job, and specifically, this time slot at 10 p.m., when individuals are going to mattress. So generally, all I might do — I’m gonna be sincere with you — is simply smile and simply get to the industrial break generally.”
Lemon showcased clips of him masking the legalization of same-sex marriage, the January 6 Capitol assault, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and different massive information occasions. He additionally aired interviews with the likes of President Joe Biden, Morgan Freeman, Spike Lee, LeBron James and former President Donald Trump.
He started the present by paying tribute to these behind the scenes.
“That is it, the ultimate ‘Don Lemon Tonight.’ It’s a bittersweet second for me, nevertheless it’s not going to be a tragic second. I’m not going to be unhappy about it,” he stated. “I’m simply going to overlook working with the entire nice individuals who actually work their butts off each single day to place this present on the air. So tonight, this isn’t about me, that is about you guys who're within the management room and on this studio. That is about you.”
Lemon won't be off the air for lengthy, He'll be part of CNN’s new morning present as a co-anchor alongside Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins. No begin date has been launched for the revamped present however it's anticipated to debut later this yr.
Alisyn Camerota and authorized analyst Laura Coates will take over the ten p.m.-midnight slot as CNN new boss Chris Licht continues his mission to shift away from punditry and deal with easy information reporting in an effort to bolster scores and regain credibility with a broader viewers.
Lemon started working at CNN as a correspondent in 2006, earlier than he joined “CNN Tonight” as a number in 2014. Final Might, the present was renamed “Don Lemon Tonight,” and it has been CNN’s lowest rated primetime present for a while. In September, Lemon averaged 584,000 viewers to complete a distant third to rivals Fox and MSNBC.
Fox dominated with 9 exhibits making the highest 10 highest-rated cable information exhibits. MSNBC’s “Final Phrase with Lawrence O’Donnell” pulled a ninth place rating, drawing 1.7 million viewers, lagging behind Fox’s “The 5” (3.3 million), “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (3.1 million), “Jesse Watters Primetime” (2.7 million) and “Hannity” (2.6 million).
Lemon’s transfer to the soon-to-be launched new morning present offers the host much less of a political-heavy position.
Lately, the liberal Lemon had develop into a lightning rod for CNN’s conservative critics for feedback like calling Donald Trump a “blatant white supremacist” and dubbing white males the “greatest terror menace” in America on air.
Sources lately informed The Submit that Licht “has his work reduce out for him” as he tries to pump up the community’s scores.
Final week, Licht quickly moved newsman Jake Tapper to CNN’s 9 p.m. slot, which has suffered since Chris Cuomo was fired.
Licht has additionally ousted left-leaning journalists like Brian Stelter, John Harwood and Jeffrey Toobin, and he moved John Berman and Brianna Keilar off the CNN’s present morning present “New Day.” They are going to discover new roles at CNN.
The rejiggering of the community’s lineup additionally comes after Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav stated he's trying to discover at the least $3 billion in value financial savings in 2023 throughout the corporate. Earlier this yr, the dad or mum firm shuttered CNN+, the community’s month-old streaming service, shedding roughly 300 staffers.
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