Surprise! CNN Names Chris Cuomo And Kate Bolduan As New Morning Show Co-Hosts
Because there hasn't been enough talk about morning show anchor shuffling this week, CNN has just announced that Chris Cuomo and Kate Bolduan have received the coveted co-host positions for the network's new morning show.
Cuomo, 42, joined CNN in January from ABC News while Bolduan, just 29, currently co-anchors "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer" and has been a congressional correspondent for the network.
The still-untitled program, which will premiere this spring, has also tapped Michaela Pereira of " KTLA Morning News" as the New York-based program's news anchor .
"I've been looking forward to this announcement since I first joined CNN," said Jeff Zucker, president of CNN Worldwide, in a statement Thursday. "Chris, Kate and Michaela are a dynamic team that will give our viewers in America a new way to start their day. We were floored with excitement when we saw Chris and Kate together on screen, and by adding Michaela to the mix we feel we have something very special. We believe there is an opening to do news in the morning with a fresh, new voice."
The announcement is somewhat of a surprise considering speculation had centered on "OutFront"s' Erin Burnett as Cuomo's morning show co-host.
The New York Times‘ Brian Stelter reported that Burnett was the original choice, but it didn’t pan out, “reportedly due to Ms. Burnett’s unwillingness to move to the morning time slot.”
Zucker's "pairing of Mr. Cuomo, 42, and Ms. Bolduan, 29, suggests that he sees an opening for a morning show that is generationally different — or, to put it more bluntly, a morning show that has younger faces," adds Stelter.
“We’re not going to reinvent the wheel,” the new morning show's producer Jim Murphy told The Times. “But what we will provide people, I think, is a fresher, more energetic, more conversational and more interesting morning show than what they’re used to.”
Murphy adds of Bouldan, who will be the youngest morning host on any major television network, “It is a surprising choice, and we know that.”
Stelter says the GWU grad " wowed Mr. Zucker" after her "obvious chemistry [with Cuomo] when they tried hosting together in an internal test, and that’s what morning producers look for when they put people together."
In January, Zucker lured Cuomo away from his "20/20" co-host and ABC News gigs to join the new team at CNN.
At the time, the NY Post reported that Zucker was " looking for an anchor he can basically make the centerpiece of the network.”
"Jeff has this brand he has to respect and grow but he’s walked into a situation where he could change out every single talent on his network right now, everything and everyone is up for grabs and he’s going to start with the morning show,” a source told Deadline . “Frankly he wants to upgrade things and he has a wish list and Cuomo fits into that perfectly.”
Cuomo, served as the news anchor on "Good Morning America" from 2006-2009 before moving to co-host "20/20" alongside Elizabeth Vargas and act as the ABC News Chief Legal Correspondent.
And according to her latest tweet, Cuomo's new co-host, Kate Bolduan, is currently resting up for some early wake up calls ahead:
I'm going off the grid for a bit of R&R.Hold down the fort while I'm away :) #vacation
— Kate Bolduan (@KateBolduan) March 15, 2013
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