Anderson Is Excellent!

CNN's `excellent year': Anderson Cooper defends his broadcaster

By Alex Strachan, Postmedia News | November 15, 2011

The ``c'' in CNN doesn't stand for confused, but the dispassionate news viewer could be forgiven for thinking so. That's because the revolving door of on-air hosts and numerous shifts in tone has created an image of uncertainty, as the 24-hour news channel tries to stake out the middle ground between left-leaning MSNBC and right-leaning FOX News. Ratings have lagged some nights, and tailed off on others.

Anderson Cooper, host of the prime-time news program, AC 360, has bucked the trend, though: AC 360's ratings were up more than 30 per cent in September, and that has helped pull up CNN's prime-time performance overall.

The bigger question - exactly what CNN is trying to be, and whom it's trying to serve - is harder to pin down.

``I think CNN does know what it wants to be,'' Cooper told reporters, shortly before his daytime syndicated show, Anderson, went on the air in late September. ``It's not an easy thing CNN is trying to do, but I do think we've had an excellent year.''

CNN is more vulnerable to the competition on MSNBC and FOX News during slow news periods, Cooper acknowledged.

``When there's not a big news event, that's when ratings dip, and it becomes more difficult for CNN. Often, when you try to be in the middle and not trying to be partisan, when you're just trying to be aggressive about the facts and what is true, it's often not as entertaining as some of the other (networks).''

When something important happens, though, there's no comparison for U.S. viewers, Cooper insists.

``CNN is about covering the news,'' he said. ``When a big event happens, people turn to CNN, not only because they know there will be people there covering an event on the ground, but because they know we're going to cover it in a way that's non-partisan, that's not left or right.''

Cooper doesn't obsess too much over ratings, in any event.

``Look, people have a lot going on in their lives, and they tune in to things for various reasons. I don't want to knock viewers for the choices they make. I'm not someone to tell people what they should be watching. All I can say is I am really proud of CNN. There's nothing better than that feeling when something is happening and you're there, and you have this remarkable resource of CNN behind you, and you know you can cover a story like no one else can, and be the first into Haiti and have the teams we had covering the revolution in Egypt.

``Of course, I wish prime time had been more stable and that there was a deeper bank of folks there. But we're not the only ones with turnover. There's been huge turnover at MSNBC over the years. I've been in the 10 o'clock time slot, and I can't tell you how many people I've been up against at 10 o'clock. I can't even remember how many people have had shows at 10 o'clock on MSNBC.

``Obviously, in the last couple of years, they've latched onto a formula that seems to be working for them. But these things ebb and flow. It comes around, and it goes.''