What To Know
- CNN has promoted Brian Abel to anchor and correspondent, expanding his role to include appearances across all CNN platforms.
- Abel brings extensive reporting experience, including White House coverage, presidential elections, and major national events.
- This anchor shake-up comes as CNN’s parent company faces potential changes following Paramount’s $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
CNN has announced a major anchor shake-up across all its platforms, promoting Brian Abel to a CNN anchor and correspondent.
The network confirmed the promotion on Thursday, June 18, noting that Abel will appear across multiple CNN platforms, including CNN, CNNi, and the network’s domestic FAST channel, CNN Headlines. Abel’s new role will see him delivering up-to-the-minute reporting while continuing to fill in as an anchor across CNN when needed.
Abel previously served as a correspondent for CNN Newsource, based in Washington, D.C., where he reported for the network’s 1,000-plus affiliate partners. His reporting includes coverage of the White House, the 2024 presidential election, multiple hurricanes, the ICE protests and unrest in Minneapolis, and the attack on a Michigan synagogue.
He has also served as a fill-in anchor and part of the CNN team nominated for an Emmy in Outstanding Breaking News Coverage for Hurricane Milton.
Abel previously won an Emmy Award as the evening anchor for WXYZ, where he worked before joining CNN. Throughout his time at the network, he covered politics across metro Detroit, interviewing presidential candidates and leading coverage of the mass shootings at Oxford High School and Michigan State University.
He was awarded an Emmy in 2020 by the Michigan chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for “Connected in Crime: Detroit to West Virginia,” which focused on the consequences of and prevention efforts surrounding a drug pipeline.
Abel, who graduated from Western Michigan University with a degree in journalism, has also worked for Scripps’ sister station KSHB in Kansas City, WDAY in Fargo, North Dakota, and WDAZ in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
The promotion comes amid an interesting time for CNN and cable news in general. Last week, the Justice Department approved Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, a deal valued at $111 billion. The agreement would see Paramount take ownership of Warner Bros’ film and TV studios, HBO and HBO Max, and the linear networks, including CNN.
Paramount CEO David Ellison has already faced criticism for reshaping CBS News to be more Trump-friendly. This included hiring The Free Press co-founder, Bari Weiss, as the network’s editor-in-chief last October. Some fear the recent upheaval at shows such as CBS Evening News and 60 Minutes could lead to similar changes at CNN.