Ann Curry could be heading to CNN to work for her former boss, Jeff Zucker, who starts as the network’s new president in January, according to the New York Post ‘ s Page Six .
If Curry does join CNN, she could be taking over Anderson Cooper’s 8 pm time slot. Cooper would then move to a “Christiane Amanpour role” as a correspondent, which he has excelled at in the past.
“Jeff wants a headliner like Rachel Maddow or Bill O’Reilly in prime time,” the source told the Post . “He cannot allow the low ratings at CNN to continue…so he can’t hire a nobody. Curry fits that CNN-smarty-pants-foreign-affairs type.”
As we have previously reported, CNN’s outgoing president Jim Walton resigned in July over the network’s decreasing ratings. Walton said the station needed new leadership as it tried to bounce back from third place behind Fox News and MSNBC.
Zucker, the former chief of NBC Universal, was hired as the new president toward the end of November. He became a producer for the Today show in 1989 and was promoted to executive producer in 1996. Curry, who was replaced as co-host of the Today show in June, served as an anchor from 1997 until 2011 after previously serving as a replacement for Matt Lauer from 1994 to 1997.
The source told the Post that Curry’s messy departure from Today would boost her appeal if she does end up at CNN.
“Package her experience as a news anchor for 14 years at NBC with the sympathy that’s remained out there for her after the way the Today show treated her,” the source said.
CNN’s rep is dismissing the rumors, however, saying, “There is no shortage of rumors about what Jeff will do. He doesn’t start until late January, and any speculation at this point is just silly.”
An NBC rep said, “Ann Curry is under contract with NBC News.”
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