CNN Considering Primetime Line Up Changes

Something's got to give as ratings lag

Well, now, this is awkward: CNN is casting about for new people and program ideas for its primetime lineup even as it expects staffers currently working in the timeslot to keep at it day after day.

Jeff Zucker, the president of the Time Warner-owned news outlet, has in two separate interviews in recent weeks pronounced 2014 a year of "shake up," particularly when it comes to primetime, where the network has lagged rivalFox News Channel and fights it out with its other competitor, MSNBC. Ideas on the table, according to people familiar with planning at the network: an emphasis on new programming at 10 and 11 p.m.; a possible half-hour program, potentially featuring Bill Weir, former co-anchor of ABC's "Nightline"; and, conceivably, moving 7 p.m. host Erin Burnett and 9 p.m. host Piers Morgan into other duties if their programs do not gain more traction. Even Anderson Cooper, who recently signed a new contract to stay at the network, could be placed at the helm of something else during the daypart, according to one of these people.