69 replies to this topic

[Lazlo]

Early Start with Ashleigh Banfield & Zoraida Sambolin.

Show logo from the twitter account: http://twitter.com/earlystartcnn

[madaboutpenny]

Time to meet the anchors!

http://www.cnn.com/v...tart-teaser.cnn

[Carolina Argentina]

Time to meet the anchors!

http://www.cnn.com/v...tart-teaser.cnn

cute promo. I doubt we'll see it here in the ME anyway,

[Lazlo]

Very early reactions:

- Some news, with a live cross within the first couple of minutes.
- Ashleigh and Zoraida seem to work well together so far.
- It's been casual so far with a bit of banter and an almost relaxed approach. Probably good for this time of the morning.
- An election panel with 4 guests at 5:10am. It's good to see they seem to be serious about throwing in resources for such an early show.

It has potential to be a show that I could watch regularly when I'm up early enough.

The show is coming from Atlanta this morning. I wonder if it will be anchored from Atlanta full time or not. It's nice to see the Atlanta studio in action at this time of the morning.

[Axl0706]

My first impression:

The openingmusic is ridiculous. Would be a better fit for a cartoon. Sounds like music that would be played at a country music festival not on a newscast.

They are really working hard to come across as relaxed, cute and kinda funny. That's fine for their first show, but I hope they are going to cut it out starting tomorrow, because it's already beginning to be a little annoying.

So far: two crime strories, the weather with Rob Marciano and countdown to the Iowa caucuses coverage with four pundits and the headlines which was basically a repeat of the aforementioned stories.

[Charles]

I think it will be hard to judge this show and the other one fairly for some time because a) they are going all out for Super Tuesday; b) they aren't in what will be their normal studio; and c) they are trying too hard with the banter, and hopefully that will soften and become more natural over time.

With that said, in my increasingly senile and cynical attitude towards CNN, I'll throw in my first impression: the content isn't all that different from Wake Up Call, but we all know by now that CNN can never do a program with content that's truly unique from everything else on the schedule. Ashleigh and Zoraida appear to have good on air presence, but I really hope the light banter isn't permanent. I think it's in CNN's best interests to differentiate themselves from the other morning cable programs by focusing more on the news and less on anchor banter.

Edited by Charles, 02 January 2012 - 10:28 AM.

[Axl0706]

The show is coming from Atlanta this morning. I wonder if it will be anchored from Atlanta full time or not. It's nice to see the Atlanta studio in action at this time of the morning.

It's actually coming from New York, Lazlo. You can see the "Election Center" logo in some shots.

[Charles]

The show is coming from Atlanta this morning. I wonder if it will be anchored from Atlanta full time or not. It's nice to see the Atlanta studio in action at this time of the morning.

It's actually coming from New York, Lazlo. You can see the "Election Center" logo in some shots.

Apparently, for the 2012 election, Studio 7 has been rechristened "CNN Election Center". They made some set modifications a few weeks ago to add more political flair. Blitzer's special last night came entirely from Studio 7. They are definitely in Atlanta this morning.

[Lazlo]

@ Charles - I'd agree that it would be great to see some more hard news on cable at this time of the morning, but I pretty much presumed this show was never going to do that. Not at 5am. I think they will tinker with the format over time, but I would be very surprised if they went too much heavier with their news. The thinking here would be to try to hook people in with some "light" banter and news that isn't too hard to consume as you scrape the sleep from your eyes and hopefully hold them over for the 7am show with Soledad. I think, at best, Early Start will be background noise as people crawl out of bed and brew their coffee.

Edited by Lazlo, 02 January 2012 - 10:38 AM.

[Axl0706]

The show is coming from Atlanta this morning. I wonder if it will be anchored from Atlanta full time or not. It's nice to see the Atlanta studio in action at this time of the morning.

It's actually coming from New York, Lazlo. You can see the "Election Center" logo in some shots.

Apparently, for the 2012 election, Studio 7 has been rechristened "CNN Election Center". They made some set modifications a few weeks ago to add more political flair. Blitzer's special last night came entirely from Studio 7. They are definitely in Atlanta this morning.

Ah okay. Thanks for clearing that up. I watched TSR last week (it was from the revamped election center too) and so I guessed it must be NY. So is the whole election coverage coming from Atlanta then this year?

[excel99]

First impressions based on 50 minutes on a political-heavy news day, and from a non-US viewer:

Very good choice of anchors. Bright (at 5am!) and seemingly genuine chemistry
Encouraging to see the show not lead on politics
But very low 'volume' of stories, even as brief headlines. Wouldn't have wanted to watch to get updated on the latest news
Did not like the 'phoning someone up who wasn't warned in advance' feature. A best a gimmick, at worse it's what is expected from an entertainment show, not a news channel

Though perhaps best to revisit in a few weeks time

Edited by excel99, 02 January 2012 - 11:01 AM.

[madaboutpenny]

Compelling reason to wake up extra early to watch this show? Not-so-much. Except I will say that this Zoraida Sambolin lady is super-solid. Ashleigh Banfield has always (and continues to) get on my nerves a bit. She's very... interrupt-y. And it's not just nerves.

Side note: I miss the CNN Election Headquarters in New York. It's weird seeing Atlanta as home base now.

[ginnyfan]

The one with glasses is annoying, I could feel this even in her introduction video. The other one is more normal and better.

[Geoffrey]

An interesting program. The anchors seemed to get along well with each other, though Ashleigh definitely tried to be the star. I wasn't a fan of when they called Rob Marciano "dreamy." Also, the wake up call segment was weird. They teased this hugely famous person and it was Kerry Kennedy. Didn't exactly live up to the promotion and hearing someone who just woke up stumbling to come up with coherent thoughts for a few minutes is not what I want to see when I just wake up and turn on CNN. (Wolf Blitzer was the unlucky victim in the 6:00 hour.) And it didn't seem like they covered that many stories but, as someone said earlier, it could be because of Iowa (or it could just be what CNN and the rest of cable does these days: only a few stories an hour).

The logo looks like something typed up... hardly a "logo" in my view. The slogan is "News from A to Z," in reference to the anchors' first names.

Overall, though, I thought it was decent but with much room to improve.

[Solar System]

I'm going to hold out true judgment until they get to their own stomping grounds and the focus is off of the Iowa Caucuses.

I've never been one to complain about the pundits, my gripe has always been, lack of news content. But I can't ignore the fact part of the problem I found with this initial show, were in fact, the pundits. I'm guessing that panel came on what three maybe four times was due to the upcoming caucus (at least, I hope). Truly even with the elections, the panel appearing that many times, was ridiculous.

I did like the check of 'Local News' but come on two states only? You can't possibly tell me that only two states had worthwhile news to cover. And there were only two stories making headlines, the Arsonist and the manhunt for the Ranger killer?
All the anchors keep bragging about this incredible CNN news machine, where is it? Where is the news?

I actually thought the "Wake up Call" segment was energizing, it kind of jazzed up the show a bit. Not knowing how the individual being contacted would respond, made me stop what I was doing, sit there and watch. No, this isn't something I expected from a news program, but any change to the tired CNN news template is a welcome change.
The show has potential, but right now it's like eating a hamburger without the meat. Please, increase the news content. As long as you don't take this show too serious, it's okay.

[joeywreck]

Wait Rob Marciano is usually in Atlanta. Is he coming to New York?

Also, I like Early Start better than Starting Point. Starting Point may appeal to the usual Morning Joe viewers but for me, I'll miss the "Most news in the Morning".

Edited by joeywreck, 03 January 2012 - 10:04 AM.

[modlib]

I actually caught the last 20 minutes of this show this morning. This is the first time I have ever seen Zoraida Sambolin and she made a good impression on me. I remember Ashleigh Banfield from MSNBC and I thought she was pretty good but she seems to be trying way to hard in this show. I say give her time to relax and find her groove. Too bad this show is sooooo early because I probably won't get to see it much. As for Starting Point, I don't think the Soledad solo gig is going to stay solo for very long. A morning show needs a team or ensemble - I just don't see a solo act working out. The more Morning Joe becomes about Joe, the worse it gets.

[Solar System]

I like the fact that Christine Romans seems to be a regular on this show. I can understand the hesitation on airing 'promos' after the EB blitz and resulting debacle, but this show with a bit of tweeking has all the ingrediants needed to be successful. The potential is there, but it's time to let the everyone in on the secret, time for some promotion.

[modlib]

I like the fact that Christine Romans seems to be a regular on this show. I can understand the hesitation on airing 'promos' after the EB blitz and resulting debacle, but this show with a bit of tweeking has all the ingrediants needed to be successful. The potential is there, but it's time to let the everyone in on the secret, time for some promotion.

I really like Christine Romans as well and I hope we continue to see her in the morning shows. She's smart and down-to-earth, always professional. With all the new shows popping up on cable, I have been surprised at the varying amounts of press (or lack thereof) that many shows get. They really rolled out the red carpet for EB Outfront. She has been on a whirlwind media blitz for months now (finally tapering off). A few weeks ago, while in the dentist office waiting room, I came across an interview with her in Glamour magazine. GLAMOUR for Pete's sake!!! Don't ask me why I even picked up that stupid magazine. Anyway, I read the interviews for the same reason i sometimes watch her show. You never know what funny, strange, interesting, clever, elitist, crazy, irritating, hilarious, incoherent, gobsmacking, pretentious, awkward, or just plain stupid thing she will say next!!

[Shinta]

Who couldn't see something like this happening?

On CNN’s “Early Start” this morning, Ashleigh Banfield and Zoraida Sambolin were looking to have an early morning conversation with comedian Chuck Nice, part of the “Wake ‘em Up” segment for the week-old show. Unfortunately, someone in the control room dialed the wrong number, and the show accidentally woke up a random man, who didn’t sound pleased to have a pair of TV anchors on the other end.

“Chuck, this is the FBI calling,” Banfield said, before realizing the mistake.

http://www.mediabist...live-tv_b105916