This means two things: One, that it's hard to think of even one reason to keep watching CNN; and two, that the bar just got raised on the incoherent mess that is the Sunday talk shows. It'll be nice to have a show that actually addresses foreign policy for once.
And Amanpour is not going to roll over for the powerful the way so many of the talking heads do:
ABC News has poached one of CNN’s biggest stars, Christiane Amanpour.
Ms. Amanpour will anchor ABC’s Sunday morning public affairs program, “This Week,” beginning in August, the network news division announced Thursday.
A longtime foreign correspondent for CNN, Ms. Amanpour will give “This Week” a global spin.
[...] Along with “This Week,” ABC said Ms. Amanpour would also anchor “prime-time documentaries on international subjects.”
The network news division — which is reeling from an impending staff cut — has been seeking a replacement for George Stephanopoulos, who shifted from “This Week” to “Good Morning America” in December.
ABC’s gain is a serious loss for CNN, which introduced a daily show on CNN International with Ms. Amanpour as host just six months ago. Jim Walton, the president of CNN Worldwide, said in an e-mail message to staff members that “her work burnished our news brand and gave it authority. In turn, the CNN imprimatur opened doors for her around the world and provided a global platform for the intelligent, courageous, principled reporting that is her signature. CNN and Christiane helped make each other great.”
CNN said her daily show, “Amanpour,” would finish at the end of April.
In a telephone interview on Thursday, Ms. Amanpour said there were no points of disagreement with CNN that prompted her exit. Rather, she said, the job at ABC was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Ms. Amanpour said her mission regardless of news organization was to “make foreign news less foreign.” On “This Week,” she said, she would “focus on the intractable convergence of domestic and foreign policy.”
