Anderson Cooper's daytime dreams are not without risks

Anderson Cooper, the CNN newsman who has often tried to walk the fine line between serious journalist and television personality, is going to take a day job to complement his evening gig. Telepictures, the syndication unit of Warner Bros., has signed Cooper for a new talk show it plans on launching in the fall of 2011, just when Oprah Winfrey leaves the airwaves for her new cable network OWN.

Clearly Cooper has decided against, for now anyway, making the move to broadcast news. CBS may be in need of an anchor for its evening newscast when Katie Couric's contract is up, but if Cooper is busy doing daytime TV, he won't be a candidate. He also likely would have been a contender for any spots that open up on the morning shows.

It's hard to fault Cooper for not wanting to wait for a chance to anchor a broadcast network newscast. Ratings are on the serious decline there and all the networks are struggling to compete against cable. In fact, if Cooper's daytime television show is successful, he may have just taken away one of Couric's career options. There has been talk that she would try her hand at afternoon chat should she decide to walk away from CBS.

Cooper can also make a ton of money in daytime television and, since Telepictures is part of Time Warner, the same company that owns CNN, its keeps him in the family.

But there are a lot of risks as well.

While Cooper's early days saw him hosting an ill-fated reality show for ABC called "The Mole," since then he has worked hard to reshape his image and earned a reputation as a crusading journalist for his coverage of Hurricane Katrina.

Cooper, who will continue at CNN too, hasn't been afraid to try his hand at the lighter fare. He often sits in for Regis Philbin on the hit morning show "Live with Regis & Kelly" and does move seamlessly between both worlds.

However, guest hosting on a friendly celebrity chat show and taking on a daytime talk show are two different things. Cooper, who like any newsman on cable these days has done his fair share of tabloid material, will have to be careful not to make that a full-time job in his afternoon gig or else he could find himself permanently on the soft side of the newsroom.

In the release announcing the new show, Cooper said he hopes to "relay important information ... and create something worthwhile and special in daytime.” 

Has Cooper watched much daytime television lately? It's either softball celebrity chit-chat or depraved families and friends screaming at each other. It is hardly the home of serious journalism or deep exploration of topical issues. Yes, Winfrey can occasionally take on serious topics, but over her career she also got as down and dirty as anyone in daytime. 

If Cooper wants to go the celebrity route, he'll be competing against Ellen DeGeneres, another Telepictures talent who also is looking to snag Winfrey's audience and stature. If he heads more toward the world of Dr. Phil, he could hurt his stature as one of the faces of CNN.

Then there is the question of whether Cooper will appeal to the daytime audience. The latest numbers from Nielsen show his females numbers on the decline. In the third quarter of this year, Cooper's audience of women aged 25 to 54 -- the bread and butter of daytime TV -- was off almost 60% from 2009.

Certainly the lines continue to blur between journalist and junket hopper. Even the legendary Edward R. Murrow did his fair share of puff pieces. But Cooper, a Yale graduate who seems to have always aspired to be more Murrow and Sevareid than Regis or Kelly, should be extra careful to protect the reputation he's tried to build and not let it slip away in pursuit of ratings or dollars.

-- Joe Flint

Photo: Anderson Cooper. Credit: Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times

Related:

'Anderson Cooper wants to hit daytime circuit'

Comments

[Lynnie]

Two factors that work toward this show's chances of success and Cooper's chances of keeping his journalist/personality balancing act. First as you note, it's all in the family. WB, Telepix and CNN have a corporate mandate to strike the right balance to serve all divisions. When I've worked on shows with talent who had another deal elsewhere, each production entity has been interested only in pushing its agenda and usually didn't care about the larger brand. (And the fact that Cooper's already a TW insider, in whom they're already invested for years, gives this process more breathing room beyond the confining 26-week syndication cycles.)

The other factor is a subtle one and something overlooked in much of today's coverage. His show isn't being developed for daytime but for the early fringe time period (3p until whenever local early news begins). This time period has a much more evenly split male/female audience available to watch - daytime's primarily women - and these early fringe viewers are slightly younger than their daytime counterparts. Early fringe can support shows that are more topical in subject matter and and a little harder-edged. It's why court shows and magazine shows play well in the late afternoons leading into news. You're correct that Oprah (who's been locked into early fringe time periods forever) certainly ignored the more news-focused content but that's more because her brand so strongly female-centric and a turnoff to most men. But for years, syndicators have wanted an early fringe show such as the one announced today: one that's topical rather than the soft celeb- and lifestyle-focused ones on the air, hosted by a user-friendly male journalist host. A while back, we came close to rolling out a nearly identical show with a comparable male cable network anchor. But he got cold feet (he's still in a network news role) and our concept never leaked out. I'm sorry we never got to launch it. But if Cooper's show is done right, it'll offer a very competitive alternative to what's out there.

[B]

we at Warner are happy that Anderson will be part of our family for a long time. He's not going anywhere!

[All Hallows Eve]

AC ROCKS!

My son called me to watch his Tuesday evening show with the "Big Fail" clip - the one with the anchor lady and her special "hand picked" news team - OMG! Hahahahahahaha!

I hope that girl is fired.
Disgusting!

[Ken P.]

No one actually watches Anderson Cooper, Rachel Maddow, CNN or MSNBC. They are kind of like the Bristol Palins of television. Maybe they can go on Dancing with the Stars next season and join the other pretend celebrities.

[Wade Collins]

This guys time is just about up. A big zero, his boss just got fired.

He's weak, probably squats when he p**s. I'm glad you idiots at Warner love him so much his ratings are anemic just as he is.

[misanthropicus]

Vanderbilt is finally in his comfort zone - talking fabulous shoes, shirts, masseurs, arugula yoghurt, you name them. Adorable - bookmark it -

[Blah]

Everyone has to get their Oprah jabs in.

[Patty]

Go Anderson what ever you do it will be watched by people like me who
Enjoy your thoughts and news.

[Patty]

Anderson Cooper no matter what he does will conti ue to be a winner!!!