Michaela Pereira
MEET THE TEAM: Kate Bolduan and Chris Cuomo on the set of CNN’s “New Day,” which they host along with Michaela Pereira (inset). (
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The brand-new Time Warner Center set of CNN’s “New Day” has the familiar morning-show elements.
There’s the glass-top table with swivel chairs for the hosts, the modern-looking, neutral-toned couch and the cozy, one-on-one interview nook.
But one staple is missing: the sleek, stainless-steel kitchen.
“New Day,” which premieres today (6 a.m.), is CNN’s attempt to compete in the lucrative morning-show arena, in which they’ve regularly struggled. New CNN president Jeff Zucker’s show will go head-to-head against his old show “Today,” which he successfully helmed as executive producer and then president of NBC, as well as “Good Morning America” and “CBS This Morning.” And while he’s incorporating components we’ve come to expect in morning shows, “New Day” promises to stay true to the CNN brand — hence no cooking segments or fashion shows.
“I know it seems like in morning TV right now, the lighter you go, the more successful you are, but I’m not so sure that’s the case,” “New Day” anchor Chris Cuomo says in the brick-walled green room during a rehearsal break.
Cuomo, who anchored “GMA” for three years, is hosting “New Day” with Kate Bolduan, 29, the former co-anchor on CNN’s “The Situation Room” with Wolf Blitzer, and Michaela Pereira, 42, who was a local morning TV host in LA.
Cuomo, 42, is the only native New Yorker of the bunch and has been showing his new cohorts the ropes. “Here’s the thing! What I did not know is Mr. Cuomo provides a welcome dinner service the day you arrive in New York,” Pereira said in a phone call from Chicago, where she was flown at the last minute to interview Chelsea Clinton.
“He met me at my corporate housing, helped me lug my suitcases up to my apartment and then took me around the corner for a lovely Italian meal.”
Establishing chemistry is vital in wake-up TV. The once-unbeatable “Today” lost its ratings lead to “GMA” last summer when Ann Curry was dumped from the show after proving to have little chemistry with co-host Matt Lauer. Many in the media blamed Lauer for the firing, and “Today” hasn’t yet bounced back.
The relationship with the audience is more intimate in the morning than other times of the day, and viewers expect to trust their hosts.
“The audience wants you to fight their fights. They want you to take seriously what is serious for them and to care about them,” Cuomo says.
“He really hits it perfectly,” says Bolduan, sitting next to Cuomo on the green room couch.
“You need to be open, you need to give more of your personality than other time periods in the day.”
So while we’ll see camaraderie and hear personal stories about the hosts, they won’t be padding out their three-hour block with fluff pieces. “High story count is what we’re going to be going for,” Bolduan says.
“And I think we will be more news responsive than the other morning shows. You’ll see a lot of anchoring in the field,” Cuomo says. “Being where the story is very important at CNN, as my frequent-flier account will tell you.”