Diversity? Not in prime-time cable news
On his Wednesday show, CNN host Lou Dobbs announced he was leaving the network. On Thursday, CNN announced John King would take over the time slot early next year.
Swapping King for Dobbs does little to change the demographics of the prime-time hosts of the three largest cable news networks, CNN, Fox and MSNBC. Dobbs, a 64-year-old white man, did not say what he would be doing next; he will continue his daily radio show. King, a 46-year-old white man, became known as the master of the magic map during the 2008 election, and currently hosts “State of the Union,” a Sunday morning talk show on CNN.
- Take a look at the prime-time cable news hosts at CNN, Fox and MSNBC:
- Larry King is the oldest; Rachel Maddow is the youngest. Adding John King to the mix, the average age will be 50.67. (With Dobbs, it was 51.87.) The average age for each CNN is 53; for Fox is 48.5; for MSNBC is 51.
- All of the prime-time hosts are white.
- Each network has one female host. At Fox and MSNBC, she is in the last live time slot, and is the youngest of her network’s prime-time hosts.
A closer look at each network:
CNN
| Time* | Program | Host | Age | Gender | Race |
| 4 p.m. | “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer” | Wolf Blitzer | 61 | Male | White |
| 6 p.m. | Not yet named | John King | 46 | Male | White |
| 7 p.m. | “Campbell Brown” | Campbell Brown | 41 | Female | White |
| 8 p.m. | “Larry King Live” | Larry King | 75 | Male | White |
| 9 p.m. | “Anderson Cooper 360″ | Anderson Cooper | 42 | Male | White |
FOX
| Time* | Program | Host | Age | Gender | Race |
| 4 p.m. | “Glenn Beck” | Glenn Beck | 45 | Male | White |
| 5 p.m. | “Special Report with Bret Baier” | Bret Baier | 39 | Male | White |
| 6 p.m. | “The Fox Report with Shepard Smith” | Shepard Smith | 45 | Male | White |
| 7 p.m. | “The O’Reilly Factor” | Bill O’Reilly | 60 | Male | White |
| 8 p.m. | “Hannity” | Sean Hannity | 47 | Male | White |
| 9 p.m. | “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren” | Greta Van Susteren | 55 | Female | White |
MSNBC
| Time* | Program | Host | Age | Gender | Race |
| 4 p.m. | “Hardball with Chris Matthews” | Chris Matthews | 63 | Male | White |
| 5 p.m. | “The Ed Show” | Ed Schultz | 55 | Male | White |
| 6 p.m. | “Hardball with Chris Matthews” | Chris Matthews | 63 | Male | White |
| 7 p.m. | “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” | Keith Olbermann | 50 | Male | White |
| 8 p.m. | “The Rachel Maddow Show” | Rachel Maddow | 36 | Female | White |
* Central standard time, of course. Feel free to adjust accordingly for your time zone.
2009
13
Nov
- Posted by Erica Smith at 12:32 am / Permalink for this post
- Filed under: , CNN, diversity, Fox News, MSNBC
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