Report: CNN Considering Shifting Jim Acosta Time Slot

CNN is doing anything it can to survive its ratings slump…

CNN chief executive Mark Thompson reportedly suggested moving anchor Jim Acosta’s morning show to midnight as part of a planned shakeup within the network

Former CNN senior media reporter Oliver Darcy reported in his Status newsletter on Thursday that Acosta “received a peculiar telephone call from CNN chief Mark Thompson” the night before.

“Thompson, I’m told, delivered the veteran journalist a sudden and strange proposal: Move your show to midnight and anchor it until 2am ET,” reported Darcy, who claimed Acosta was caught “off guard” by the proposal as “he had no reason to believe that his current show would be on the chopping block.”

Acosta was reportedly told that the lineup change “had nothing to do with his ratings or the editorial style of his show,” but would be necessary logistically to accommodate a new morning schedule.

According to Darcy, Thompson “even pitched the graveyard shift as if it were something of a promotion for Acosta.”

Darcy questioned the purpose of the change, noting that Acosta had some of the stronger ratings at CNN, and that a 12 a.m. time slot “occupied by virtually zero other hosts in the cable news business” would “effectively exile Acosta to the Siberia of television news.”

One unnamed source told Darcy that the move may be part of an effort to appeal to President-elect Donald Trump.

“They want to get rid of Acosta to throw a bone to Trump,” the source claimed. “Midnight is not a serious offer when his ratings are among the best on the network.”

Throughout Trump’s first term in the White House, Acosta was consistently combative with Trump officials quickly earning the Commander-In-Cheif’s ire.

CNN has been experiencing a significant decline in viewership, particularly in the key 25-to-54-year-old demographic prized by advertisers. In 2024, the network averaged 92,000 total day viewers in this age group, marking a 1% drop from the previous year’s low. Primetime viewership in the same demographic saw a more substantial decline, with a 52% decrease to an average of 77,000 viewers. Overall primetime viewership also shrank by 45%, averaging 405,000 viewers.