Last weekend, CNN decided to part ways with anchor Chris Cuomo after information revealed he played a more significant role in aiding his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, during the onslaught of sexual harassment accusations.
CNN appointed Michael Smerconish to serve as the fill-in host this week before the termination. However, it seems as though the network wants to keep Smerconish a bit longer as CNN ponders what to do long-term with the timeslot.
According to TheWrap, a spokesperson for CNN confirmed that Smerconish will serve as host again next week but stated plans for the following remain in “formation.” He will function as the 9 p.m. ET time slot host through at least Christmas.
Despite being a fill-in host, Smerconish bested CNN’s other primetime hosts, Don Lemon and Anderson Cooper, in the demographic of viewers from ages 25 to 54. Wednesday saw Smerconish have the highest demo numbers on the network, drawing in an average of 184,000 viewers for that age group.
CNN president Jeff Zucker stated that those in charge of searching would look “at all possibilities. Obviously, as we’ve said before, diversity is always a factor that we will take into account” as they search for a long-term host.
Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.
