Wide World of Women

I don't know if anyone else watches/DVR's New Day, but given that Kate Bolduan was going to be on and how they advertised an expansive set before the show started I had high hopes. Then again, this was a CNN morning show so I also had tempered expectations. Well, it's been over a month since the show debuted and in the past 2 weeks about 95% of Kate's appearances on the show has been from behind the glass desk. They even either adjusted the lighting or did something to the glass so that it isn't see-thru anymore. But there are numerous interviews throughout the show and Chris Cuomo does just about all of them these days. What's worse, they have reduced the couch segment to under 5 minutes and that includes a commercial break and plenty of b-roll of whatever they are talking about. Morning Joe's final segment ("What Have We Learned Today") is better than what New Day has done to the couch segment.

It's a shame. In hindsight I think it worked out well for CNN in not moving Erin Burnett as they were able to elevate Kate Bolduan to big time status and keep Erin Burnett in her prominent role at 7pm. The content of the show can be good and bad....the past two days they've been spending too much time on that Ariel Castro nut and his court case but I think they've done a good job with doing what they set out to do which was to make it news-heavy. The total lack of Kate Bolduan out from behind that desk, however, just kills the show for me.

I agree. The first week they were on the couch for at least a half hour if I remember correctly but now it is down to probably a minute and a half (when you take into account the commercials and the "award of the day award" videos). Total disappointment but they have pretty good ratings (they beat morning joe regularly) so I don't see any changes happening any time soon.

"CNN’s newest program New Day also saw significant ratings gains compared to a year ago and topped MSNBC’s Morning Joe for four of the past six weeks in the demo 25-54 since the program launched (June 17, 2013). New Day also narrowed the gap significantly with Morning Joe this month compared to CNN programming a year ago."

I agree with you both!!

In my opinion, MAJOR FAIL when it comes to the show being sexy in any way or providing any eye candy.

A number of complaints....

1. Kate Bolduan, gorgeous! but stiff, stiff, stiff ; to me she seems uptight even when she is trying to joke around

2. like its been said, most of the time everyone is glued to that big table

3. the banner/scroll thing at the bottom is a freaking monster!! its huge; its very distracting! do we really need the weather constantly plastered on the bottom?

Bottom line, I think New Day is a major capping bust...

Years ago, CNN kept the bottom news banner scroll thing under control AND they put the weather on the side, out of the way

check it out, the good old days
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQL8iyxzOR4

Yeah, I don't expect changes either as the ratings are solid (for CNN as compared to their prior attempts, that is).

Not to go off on a tangent but I used to watch Morning Joe but that show just lost me - I can't quite put my finger on it but overall it's just stale. I'll probably return to it next year when the political campaigns get into full swing but when the network becomes "the place for politics" it makes for tough viewing in the month of August. The only time it was interesting to watch this time of year was back in 2009 when people were flipping out at town halls over the health care deal.

I think Kate will grow into the role......Cuomo seems to be overbearing at times.

You are spot-on with that friggin' banner......what a waste of space. The weather crawl needs to go......either that or at least make it to include more info. like sports scores. I don't need to be reminded what the weather will be like in Orlando every other minute.

I'm going to continue to keep an eye on it as they may still be tweaking the show but unless they do you are right....this is a bust.

I think it's been a month since I've seen any caps from that show.

Enough said.

I think it requires a different sort of person to be on in the AM. Many have tried and it hasn't worked. The AM person needs to be a lot more loose and less of a news reader. This is one reason why Fox will be able to get away with Hasselbeck on F&F even though her whole TV career has consisted of being a reality show contestant and a commentator. Fox can always get one of their pretty ladies off the bench to do headlines for Liz.

One lady who I can think has the right personality to go to mornings has been Norah O'Donnell. She has done serious news coverage, and yet has had no problem going to CBS in the AM and loosening up. Her co-host Gayle King, however, does not seem like a hard news person to me (I don't know her background, so maybe I am wrong). Gayle's style seems perfect for AM television right out of the box, while Norah had to transition to it and could pull it off. Charlie Rose, who is an interviewer first and foremost, didn't have to change a thing.

Point being, if Kate hasn't loosed up to being an AM personality yet, she might never do it.

Katie Couric had to go the opposite direction. In the evening, people don't care about the new skin care products for beach season or whom DiCaprio is sleeping with this month. They only want the news. Katie had to drop the looseness to become a real news person, and it was a tough change. She has now gone back to her own show in the daytime where she can be the morning news host personality again.

Meredith Vieira strikes me as the sort of person who could make the switch back and forth effortlessly.

I agree re: you need a certain personality to be on in the AM. However, I think Kate Bolduan's perceived looseness on the show has less to do with her and more to do with the overall tenor of the show which is news-heavy and not like Fox And Friends where they go from talking about the IRS to partaking in a cookout out on the plaza. New Day is aiming for a softer presentation with their pastel colors but they are also trying to be a 'serious' morning news show and that doesn't make for a lot of loose moments spare the 5 minutes they spend on the couch at the end of the show.

I don't think they went on the couch at all today they even did that stupid award of the day segment from the desk