The community introduced Thursday that Michaelson, who left Fox’s L.A. station KTTV final month, will helm a nightly two-hour reside broadcast from CNN’s studios on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank beginning in mid-October.
This system will air from 9 to 11 p.m. on the West Coast and midnight to 2 a.m. within the east. It’s going to even be carried on CNN Worldwide in Europe and Asia.
Michaelson instructed The Occasions in an interview that he first pitched the concept of reside program for West Coast prime-time viewers to CNN executives 4½ years in the past. They handed.
“Sometimes good things happen to those who wait,” Michaelson mentioned.
Fox 11 anchor Elex Michaelson and former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger consuming Michaelson’s mother’s baked good at a previous occasion.
(Elex Michaelson)
Earlier this 12 months, CNN provided the after-midnight shift to Washington-based anchor Jim Acosta, who was a high-profile antagonist of President Trump throughout his tenure as White Home correspondent.
Acosta was holding down a noon hour on the time, and the proposed transfer to midnight was largely seen as a demotion and a capitulation to Trump in his second time period. The plan was offered after Warner Bros. Discovery executives signaled that CNN wanted to extend its enchantment to Republican viewers.
The appointment of Michaelson provides the late-night CNN program a clearer editorial rationale. A local of Agoura Hills, Michaelson has spent his total journalism profession in Southern California, the place he’s a well known determine.
Michaelson mentioned his presence in Los Angeles will allow to him to ebook “West Coast thought leaders in politics, entertainment, technology, sports and more.”
Michaelson’s program will launch just a few weeks earlier than Californians vote on a proposal to redraw the boundaries of the state’s congressional districts.
“The showdown on Nov. 4 over the issue of redistricting could determine who controls the U.S. House next year and whether there is actually a check and balance on the Trump administration,” Michaelson mentioned. “Although it’s a fight in California, the impact will be felt not just around the country but around the world.”
Michaelson is understood for thanking company who appeared on “The Issue Is” with recent baked items from his mom’s kitchen.
He acknowledged that the custom can be tough to keep up with a nightly two-hour program that includes a number of company. “We may need to revise that,” he mentioned.
