CNN may face backlash over Jim Acosta’s potential move

Depending on who you ask, CNN anchor Jim Acosta is getting a chance to speak to a much wider audience with a task at a new and unconventional time, or he’s being removed entirely from the usual daily discussion surrounding the news.

Executives at CNN have asked Acosta to take on a new role anchoring a show that will air from midnight to 10 p.m. 2 on the U.S. East Coast, according to two people familiar with the matter. Still, the show has been given a chance to deliver live breaking news to audiences on the West Coast and overseas at times when viewers in those regions are still active and hungry for information.

The offer was issued this week, according to these people, and Acosta, who gained a wider profile at CNN with his coverage of the White House during President Donald Trump’s first administration, may not have other options. It is understood Wolf Blitzer will soon pick up two late-morning hours alongside Pamela Brown, according to a person familiar with the matter, while early morning show host Kasie Hunt is in discussions to take a role in the late-night slot where Blitzer once held power.

Acosta has anchored the 10 o’clock hour on CNN for the past 11 months after working a weekend shift. He had been said to have entertained potential offers from rivals around that time.

CNN declined to comment on potential personnel moves. The status newsletter reported earlier on Acosta’s potential new assignment.

CNN, which is struggling with significant declines in ratings, has long considered a set of maneuvers that would put more focus on digital content, and staffers have grown increasingly concerned about what those ideas will portend. Layoffs have long been expected, according to two people familiar with the situation, along with new schedule adjustments for the company’s flagship cable network. There is also a belief among employees that CNN could move more of its production staff to its facilities in Atlanta, which would help it cut salaries and real estate in New York and Washington, DC

There are some staffers at CNN who are likely to see moving Acosta from mid-morning to overnight as a demotion. After all, CNN typically runs reruns of its primetime shows in the wee hours of the morning to get those programs in front of viewers in California and elsewhere. In fact, as part of CNN’s proposal, Acosta would potentially move to Los Angeles to take on his new duties, according to people familiar with the discussions. Staffers have viewed such offers with increasing caution in recent months after anchors Victor Blackwell and Phil Mattingly each moved to New York to take on new assignments, only to lose them within a short time when the Warner Bros. The Discovery-backed outlet continues to struggle with notable declines in its linear audience.

The timing of the offer has also sparked early pushback in CNN’s hallways, according to one of the people familiar with the talks. Acosta regularly sparred with the Trump administration during his time as a White House correspondent. He found himself temporarily barred from the White House press room during the Trump administration in November 2019 because the commander in chief often did not like the questions Acosta asked him at various events. Acosta later became a symbol of America’s faith in the First Amendment when CNN prevailed and had its employee reinstated.

At a time when more companies and media organizations seem eager to court Trump’s favor, moving Acosta into a previously unfilled slot could be seen as a kowtow of sorts. CNN has made moves in recent months to woo conservative viewers, giving increasing time to former George W. Bush adviser Scott Jennings and recruiting former Fox News personalities like Gretchen Carlson and Geraldo Rivera — as well as current contributor Juan Williams, who is currently promoting a book – to appear on “News Night,” a roundtable program at 10 p.m., featuring heated conversation between people of opposing political persuasions.

Acosta’s name has previously surfaced as a potential candidate for the chopping block. Under former CEO Chris Licht, CNN parted ways with a handful of staffers seen as emblematic of the crusading behavior championed by Jeff Zucker, who ran the network for about 10 years as of 2013. Don Lemon, John Harwood and Brian Stelter all left . CNN during Licht’s tenure, although Stelter returned in 2024.

There may be more in store for the network’s employees. CNN CEO Mark Thompson recently told employees that the company’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery planned to invest $70 million in his strategic vision to increase digital content. There are expectations that CNN will explore the launch of new properties tied to health, wellness and other topics where executives hope consumers will have interest. “We will develop new digital products with a particular focus on digital experiences that are worth paying for,” the director said in a memo in July.