Rumors of a CNN merger persistent
USA Today
Is CNN about to merge its news operations with either CBS or ABC News?
Judging from some reports lately, the answer seems to be a foregone conclusion.
Fueling the fire: word last week that a handful of CBS News executives flew from New York to Atlanta to check out CNN operations.
(Never mind that CBS brass made the same trip three years ago, when CBS and CNN flirted a bit, only to have nothing come of it.)
None of the three networks is saying much about what's going on — other than to acknowledge that they're talking.
But CBS and ABC News are said to be highly skeptical that anything will pan out. There's talk that if CNN does ultimately align itself with one of the two, it'll be because the brass at CBS' parent company, Viacom, or ABC's, Disney, ordered the move because they discern cost savings down the road. So far, folks at CBS and ABC News reportedly don't see it.
CNN is looking for marquee personalities — think everyone from Dan Rather to Barbara Walters — who can draw viewers. For ABC and CBS News, it appears to be strictly about saving money: Both are under pressure from their parent companies to cut costs.
Butt nettlesome problems remain.
Chief among them, insiders say, is the question of who would have editorial control of the merged operation.
CNN, backed by the big money of AOL Time Warner, apparently thinks it should call the shots.
But ABC and CBS News executives bristle at that, saying that while their news divisions and talent have been cut back in recent years, their editorial judgment is far superior to CNN's.
As one ABC News executive said: "CNN thinks they're the gold standard. We think they're the copper standard."
Last month, speaking to television critics in Pasadena, Calif., CBS News president Andrew Heyward was asked about the prospects of CBS jumping into bed with CNN.
"Guardedly pessimistic," Heyward said, an assessment that no one at CBS News thought needed changing after their executives returned from Atlanta last week.
In other CNN news: Chalk one up for CNN's Lou Dobbs: He and "Moneyline" have snagged CNBC "Squawkbox" star Kathleen Hays, the so-called "Bond Belle," who joins as an economics correspondent in September and will anchor a program on CNN Money when the network premieres.
Hays, a business news journalist with nearly 20 years of experience, will report on the Federal Reserve, credit markets and the bond market. "I've had a terrific run at CNBC. I will miss all my friends there and at NBC, but this was an opportunity that I simply couldn't pass up," said Hays, who has served in a variety of capacities at CNBC, including on-air economics editor and correspondent on several key programs, including "Business Center."
