Courtesy CNN
With the Republican National Convention days away, CNN has announced its plans for covering the conventions. The network is largely shifting its operations to Cleveland and Philadelphia for the each of the respective conventions with anchors and correspondents on location and shows airing from the convention centers.
There will also be special weekend coverage as weekend New Day, Smerconish, and CNN Newsroom will air from the respective cities on Saturday. On Sunday, New Day, Inside Politics, State of the Union, and Reliable Sources will air from the convention centers. Sunday will feature a dose of weekday coverage as there will be special editions of The Situation Room, Erin Burnett OutFront, Anderson Cooper 360, and CNN Tonight with Don Lemon.
On the weekdays, CNN will be live for twenty-four hours with coverage from the conventions. There will be normal weekday programming, with one exception. Inside Politics with John King, a Sunday morning roundtable program, will air weekdays at noon until 1 PM ET. This is normally the timeslot for Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield, but a CNN spokesperson says that Banfield will be on vacation for the duration of the conventions.
Primetime coverage, titled America’s Choice 2016, will air nightly and be anchored by Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Jake Tapper, Chris Cuomo, and Dana Bash. Cuomo is a new addition to the primetime crew, although he has been active with the election coverage, including moderating the Libertarian Town Hall, in the past and CNN’s convention promo features him. Don Lemon will anchor late night coverage which is different because the coverage often goes late into the night until new anchors, often John Berman, take over at 2 A.M.
The conventions will also be broadcast around the world, thanks to CNN International. Christiane Amanpour, Hala Gorani, and Kate Bolduan will all air their respective programs from the conventions. Bolduan’s program, State of the Race, focuses on the 2016 election.
CNN Digital is also kicking into high gear for the conventions. CNN says that the digital platforms will offer live coverage and utilize the CNN Politics app and the Nightcap newsletter. CNN also says that the digital platforms will offer a second screen experience.
Users can also experience the conventions with virtual reality as CNNVR will be broadcasting speeches and delegate activity.