Is Bourdain Single-Handedly Saving CNN?
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CNN’s recent move away from news coverage and towards more traditional programming — albeit travel — has the network thinking that its future is going to look a lot more like Bourdain, and a lot less like Piers Morgan (thanks to the gods!).
In an interesting interview with CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker, the new news channel’s chief hints at big changes at the network, partly as a result of Bourdain and the ratings success of Parts Unknown.
Citing lackluster growth for viewership of traditional news coverage (flat for the past 12 years), Zucker (whose former job was President and CEO of NBC Universal) is looking to start ramping up its production of entertaining documentaries (such as the recently aired Blackfish) and non-scripted shows, a formula he believes is a path to success citing Parts Unknown.
Per CapitalNewYork.com:
The 48-year-old Zucker initially faced internal resistance to his experiments beyond the realm of hard news, but he now has an irrefutable retort: The No. 1 show on CNN is now Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, a travel-adventure show featuring the bad-boy celebrity chef. Zucker said that inside CNN, his formula has finally been accepted “because people have seen the results.”
Would-be travel hosts, foodie travelers and Sea World-expose documentary makers, start sprucing up those résumés.
By Matt Stabile
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Matt Stabile is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheExpeditioner.com. You can read his writings, watch his travel videos, purchase the book he co-edited or contact him via email at any time at TheExpeditioner.com. (@TheExpeditioner)