CNN's Anderson Cooper "enjoyed perhaps the shortest honeymoon in recent memory," Variety's Brian Lowry writes. "No sooner did he supplant Aaron Brown as the face of CNN then critics began to accuse the cable net of another seat-of-the-pants lineup shift, testifying to the channel's instability and seemingly knee-jerk programming philosophy.

Of course, CNN management bosses stoked the hysteria, foolishly proclaiming Cooper the tangiest flavor since New Coke. Then, after a slew of newspaper profiles, his first week averaged less than 600,000 viewers, failing to generate appreciable curiosity despite the media swarm."