Early Start | |
---|---|
Genre | morning television show |
Presented by |
Christine Romans Dave Briggs |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | Shannon High |
Location(s) |
Time Warner Center New York City |
Running time | 120 minutes |
Release | |
Original network | CNN |
Picture format |
480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
Original release | January 2, 2012 – present |
External links | |
Website |
Early Start is a hard news morning television show on CNN anchored by Christine Romans and Dave Briggs. It premiered on January 2, 2012 and airs weekdays from 4:00-6:00 a.m. ET.
By the end of its run in 2011, CNN's American Morning had fallen behind in the morning ratings. Executive vice president Ken Jautz, who joined in September 2010, decided to revamp the network's morning lineup by canceling the show altogether and replacing it with two new programs less focused on national politics than cable rivals Fox & Friends and Morning Joe.
Along with Starting Point, Early Start replaced American Morning, which aired from 2001 to 2011. Ashleigh Banfield, who co-anchored with Sambolin until July 13, 2012, has since moved to the 12pm.
The new morning lineup was announced in November 2011 with Ashleigh Banfield and Zoraida Sambolin confirmed as anchors of the 5-7 a.m. program, while Soledad O'Brien joined as anchor of the 7-9 a.m. program. Banfield joined from ABC News while Sambolin was hired from WMAQ-TV. The name of the 5-7 a.m. program was announced as Early Start on Twitter on December 29. The program was subtitled The News From A to Z, a reference to the first initials of the show's original co-anchors. On May 30, 2012, CNN announced ABC's John Berman would join Banfield and Sambolin as co-anchor. On June 26, 2012, CNN announced Banfield was leaving Early Start in July to anchor the 11am hour of CNN Newsroom. On December 13, 2013, Zoraida Sambolin left the show and was replaced by Christine Romans in January 2014.