OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Chris Wallace left Fox News and joined CNN earlier this year in hopes of hosting a primetime show on the network, but things didn’t work out that way. First, Wallace’s show aired on the now-defunct CNN+ streaming service.
Then, Wallace’s show was kicked over to HBO Max after CNN had to shut down its streaming service after spending roughly $300 million on the failed project. After being passed over for a primetime hosting gig, new CNN CEO Chris Licht says Wallace’s show will remain on HBO Max but will also air on CNN one night a week.
“Licht announced back in May at the company upfront that Wallace’s interview streaming program on CNN+ named Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? will stream on HBO Max—and air on the CNN TV network weekly on Sunday evenings; but he did not disclose a timeslot. Until now,” Ad Week reported.
“A big part of the CNN brand is respectful, authentic and impactful interviews—and one of the best interviewers in the business is Chris Wallace, who is here with us this morning,” Licht remarked at the time. “We’re excited to announce that Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? will return to production this fall, with episodes on HBO Max and on our CNN linear channel on Sunday evenings. Chris’s show will be part of what we’re calling ‘CNN Sunday.’ It’s a unique opportunity for your brands to appear alongside our premium content.”
In October, Wallace joked about his show on CNN being “on-again” and “off-again,” quite a few times in recent months.
Wallace joked with celebrity chef Guy Fieri about the demise of CNN+, telling his guest to take care on the set of his one and only show because “I almost lost it a few months ago.”
Below is a transcript of the exchange:
WALLACE: “Would it be fair to say, Guy — “
FIERI: “They’re so mad at me when that happens.
WALLACE: “What, when the — “
FIERI: “The exploding potato. We call it hot potato. That’s the name of the game.”
WALLACE: “Okay. Would it be fair to say that drinks were served during the course of producing of that show?”
FIERI: “Can you tell by looking at me?”
WALLACE: “Them.”
FIERI: “Oh, no, them. Yes, not me. There were a couple beverages. I feel that when you’re talking about food and you’re having your party inside of the Flavor Town Lounge, you should probably make sure that there is some really good Santo tequila being poured. And yes, there were some beverages.”
WALLACE: “I was going to say, do you realize how much better my career and political talk shows would have been if beverages — even on a Sunday morning — if beverages had been served?”
FIERI: “Exactly.
WALLACE: “How many series do you have on the Food Network and Discovery+ now?”
FIERI: “I think I have five shows. ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,’ which is kind of the — I think we’ll be doing that one forever, I’ll be doing that in a walker; ‘Guy’s Grocery Games,’ which we shoot up in the wine country, Northern California; ‘Guy’s Ranch Kitchen,’ that we shoot at my ranch, that features chefs from all over the country.”
WATCH:
CNN has been in shambles for months after new owners took over the network.
The new boss of CNN, Chris Licht, appears to have gotten fed up with criticisms from “the left” of his reforms at the struggling cable news outlet and has now responded to liberals who are taking issue with his latest programming moves.
After being named the network’s CEO in February, Licht has moved to remake the news company by getting rid of its failed online streaming service CNN+ and dismissing several of the network’s prominent hosts and personalities in an attempt to make coverage less biased toward the left. In an interview with The New York Times, Licht said he wants the network to host a “rational conversation about polarizing issues.”
Interestingly, he said, he has gotten the loudest criticism — “uniformed vitriol,” as he called it — from left-wing figures, which is the audience that CNN catered to for years under previous leadership.
“The uninformed vitriol, especially from the left, has been stunning,” Licht told the Times. “Which proves my point: so much of what passes for news is name-calling, half-truths, and desperation.”
Another longtime CNN host and correspondent, Ana Cabrera, announced that she is the latest notable figure to be departing the troubled network, which continues to struggle for viewers.
