I think it'll stay the same. The only show I could see moving in primetime is "Hannity". While Hannity's ratings are still high, his style of anchoring is way more partisan than anyone else in the primetime lineup including O'Reilly. He'll be a great addition to jazz up the Republican fan base for the 2014 mid-terms but I don't think he matches the identity and general theme of the other primetime hosts, whose aim is to critically analyze the events of the day. Many may laugh at my suggestion that O'Reilly isn't a partisan but O'Reilly doesn't toe the Republican party line as much as Hannity does. In fact, O'Reilly is very inclusive of other viewpoints as is Greta and Megyn.
I could see Fox News moving Hannity back to his 9pm time slot on the Fox Business Network, which is in need of a jolt and has a clear stance on limited government throughout it's schedule. If Hannity does move, it leaves the door open for "The Five" to go primetime. The likelihood of all of this happening is slim to none though, especially given the fact that Hannity is signed to a long-term agreement to continue on FNC Primetime.
Prediction: The same.
The 10pm hour is destined to change. Lawrence O'Donnell has publicly said that he doesn't want to host a cable news show forever. Could this open the primetime door for MSNBC rising star Alex Wagner? I think so. Wagner is already moving to 4pm to replace Martin Bashir and it's only a matter of time before her meteoric rise continues. If I were MSNBC, I would put Maddow head on vs. O'Reilly but we already know MSNBC doesn't want to jeopardize their biggest star being clobbered in the ratings.
Expect Chris Hayes to stay at 8pm. His ratings are slowly increasing after getting off to a bad start (thanks to Chris Matthews' lead in) and MSNBC is in need of consistency in that timeslot. At 10pm, I would expect Alex Wagner's panel show, "NOW," to take over as the last voice of the night.
Prediction: 10pm move
Oh Lord! I'm up in the air about CNN. Who knows what they have planned for primetime!? Here's what I think. At 7pm, Anderson Cooper will host AC360 with a look at all the latest headlines followed by a block of unscripted shows from 8pm-10pm. Monday through Wednesday, the block will feature a different lineup of shows while Thursday will serve as movie/documentary night with an encore on Friday. At 10pm, Don Lemon takes over with a review of the show/documentary as the topic of discussion followed by a sports highlights show powered by Bleacher Report at 11pm. Erin Burnett will no longer be a part of CNN while Piers Morgan will reduce his role to only airing on Friday nights and weekends with a signature interview outside of the studio (reminiscent of the interview he did with Rick Warren, the highlight of Morgan's 2013 at CNN). The Lead will add an extra 30 minutes to it's telecast, airing 4-5:30pm with The Sit Room on from 5:30pm-7pm.
Sidenote: CNN will head back to a 2-anchor format in the daytime with Robin Meade taking Kate Bouldan's place on "New Day".
Prediction: PANDEMONIUM!!!
HLN will have just as much chaos and pandemonium as CNN. I think CNN's primetime ratings will increase in 2014 (catching up with MSNBC) while HLN will take a STEEP downturn. Dr. Drew will move to 7:30pm with Jane Velez-Mitchell at 7pm. Nancy Grace will continue at 8pm, but then from 9pm-11pm we'll see a bunch of cheesy reality shows which are copycats of shows already on the air. Each day will include a different set of shows and most of the shows will be under the Upwave brand. The biggest surprise will be Jay Leno, who'll come on at 11pm and compete with rival Conan. Leno's show will not have a late-night feel to it though and will be set in a studio without an audience.
Prediction: Pandemonium. But less than CNN. Still pandemonium though.
We might see Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg get some primetime specials here and there but other than that, I don't expect much for CNBC's primetime lineup. NBC Sports may acquire more TV rights and CNBC could serve as the home for their overrun programming. Peacock Productions might also place some of it's random specials which can't find a home on CNBC's primetime lineup. But CNBC Prime is a goner with "60 Minutes" repeats as the main replacement.
Prediction: CNBC Prime axed!
More of the same. Unless Fox News risks moving one of it's major stars to the FBN lineup alongside Cavuto, we'll get more of the same from these guys. Primetime doesn't need to be much of a success if Maria Bartiromo and the WSJ can help the network improve it's daytime ratings. I wouldn't be shocked if Erin Burnett moved to FBN for a primetime show and/or to serve as it's main breaking news anchor.
Prediction: The same.
If Bloomberg stays the same and is owned by Bloomberg Inc. by this time next year, then I don't think their lineup changes. I could see Bloomberg expand into producing more documentaries which air in primetime but other than documentaries and "Charlie Rose" re-runs, there's not much hope for Bloomberg's primetime future if it's still owned by Bloomberg. I'm under the impression though, that Bloomberg will look to sell it's TV network to focus solely on the internet in 2014 and if that happens then the primetime lineup will obviously change.
Prediction: If the network is owned by Bloomberg by this time next year, then nothing changes.
Prediction: No changes to primetime. Ratings will finally match the ratings of it's former incarnation, Current. If a major breaking news story hits the Middle East in 2014, expect AJA to match CNN in the ratings.
Prediction: Jorge Ramos will make a lot of noise through a major interview he does on his show. Alicia Menendez will take over the 9pm hour. Fusion will finally get added carriage in 2014.
Vice is launching a new 24-hour news network which will mostly exist online. According to some articles published back in 2012, the network will be available in 18 other countries on television. I don't think "Vice News" will be available on television here in the U.S. in 2014 unless it leases time or buys a television network of it's own (such as Bloomberg) although those chances are slim to none.
I also don't think this online network will make an immediate dent on ratings on a daily basis but I do think that they'll be a force to reckon with during peak primetime hours if breaking news arises. CNN may lose it's dominant streak as the leader in breaking news in 2014 because Fox News will be using a trusted journalist with cool, new gadgets for all of it's breaking news stories (Shepard Smith) while Vice will most likely provide an uncensored point of view which the traditional nets are not comfortable with that'll interest viewers in the demo.
For example, if "Vice News" were around during the Boston bombings, I imagine they would probably have a Vice correspondent move in temporarily with a family in Watertown who was forced to stay indoors or follow a cop who was right in the middle of the action. This kind of uncensored view could be the key to taking down the traditional cable nets or at the very least, bruising them during live breaking news coverage.
For example, if "Vice News" were around during the Boston bombings, I imagine they would probably have a Vice correspondent move in temporarily with a family in Watertown who was forced to stay indoors or follow a cop who was right in the middle of the action. This kind of uncensored view could be the key to taking down the traditional cable nets or at the very least, bruising them during live breaking news coverage.
Prediction: Fox News will take over as breaking news leader in the primetime ratings with help from Vice. Vice will take away viewers from CNN and reach 1 million views on a live stream of a breaking news story while Fox News viewers will stay on Fox News rather than turn to CNN. Fox News will also use Vice correspondents (and vice versa) and even possibly simulcast coverage together for a certain time period.
Prediction: CBS News' new internet news network will include a lot of hosts who are normally contributors on various cable news primetime shows. Those contributors will continue to make appearances on cable news primetime which will help promote the online network.
Prediction: Politico and Sinclair will look into cable news. Possibly launching cable news primetime shows which compete with the other guys.
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