Cooper replaces Brown to anchor CNN's 'NewsNight'
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-11-04 13:37

The once "voice of CNN" Aaron Brown is leaving the network after Anderson Cooper was selected as the new anchor, said the company on Thursday.

Anderson Cooper (L) vs Aaron Brown (R)

Cooper is getting Brown's low-rated, two-hour weekday 10 p.m. ET/7PT NewsNight block, to be renamed Anderson Cooper 360.

Veteran CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer will replace Cooper in his current 7 p.m ET/4 PT slot with The Situation Room, which he also anchors for two hours daily starting at 4 p.m. ET/1 PT.

The announcement brings an end to Brown's job at the network and further raises Cooper's profile to the face of the new CNN.

CNN-U.S. president Jon Klein said CNN decided to build its primetime schedule around "the two tentpoles that have the greatest potential and the greatest momentum": "360" and "The Situation Room."

"When you look at that landscape, there was little opportunity for Aaron," Klein said, adding that it was a "mutual decision." Efforts to reach Brown weren't successful Wednesday, as he was on vacation this week. Brown, who signed a new contract in the fall, reportedly was signed through 2007. Klein declined comment on contractual matters.

Brown's star has vanished while Cooper's is rising: The move comes after a year of notable live reports from Cooper on natural-disaster stories — where television news careers are often made — from his searing coverage of January's Asian tsunami to his recent reports from the path of destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina.

"In the wake of Katrina, you saw the audience and people who follow the news were embracing Anderson's phenomenal coverage and glued to reports in 'The Situation Room,'" he said.