CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker has been mostly quiet on his plans for CNN. Save for a few public appearances, and a press call when he was first announced, he has not given any interviews to the media that covers the media.

“This is the only time I have talked,” Zucker said to a handful of reporters gathered around him at the Landmarc restaurant in Time Warner Center including the AP’s David Bauder, Washington Post‘s Erik Wemple, The NY Post’s Claire Atkinson, THR’s Marisa Guthrie, the Los Angeles Times’ Joe Flint and us. The back room at Landmarc had been the setting for the formal reveal of CNN’s new morning show “New Day,” (a clip of which you can see here on Vine) with the anchors and producers answering our questions.

The CNN president was asked how quickly he thinks CNN can become the number one cable news channel.

“Come back to me in three years,” Zucker says. “We have been here for four months, there is no way that anyone would have thought that we would be in the position that we are in, and we have miles and miles to go.

“We have to maintain where we are today. Fox is number one, they are incredibly strong and incredibly dominant,” he added.

Zucker’s vision for CNN is right in line with what he said it would be on that first conference call, where he said he wanted the channel to cover more than just politics and war.

“What I want CNN to be is to be aggressive in news, coupled with programming like Anthony Bourdain, ” Zucker said, noting that when you broaden the definition of “news,” there will always be something to cover, but that doesn’t mean ordinary people will tune in. “We need a number of programs that you would not normally find on cable news networks but on places like Discovery, A&E, Nat Geo, we want to compete in that arena as well as the traditional cable news arena that CNN has traditionally been grouped into.”

This is not to say the traditional anchor-led programs will be going away. Zucker cited “New Day,” “The Lead,” “The Situation Room” and “AC360″ as some of CNN’s signature programs, although that doesn’t mean they can’t change. “AC360″ tested out a new panel format a few weeks ago, which Zucker champions.

“We were very pleased with that program, very pleased,” Zucker said, adding that the 8 PM edition of “AC360″ won’t be changing.

Then there is “Reliable Sources,” the long-running media criticism show hosted by Howard Kurtz.

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• The New Republic‘s Eric Kingsbury argues that a revamped “Crossfire” on CNN isn’t a bad idea, given the changing state of cable news.

• Speaking of CNN, the channel says that season two of Anthony Bourdain‘s show “Parts Unknown” will debut in just a few months, September 15. More after the jump.

• TVByTheNumbers looks at cable news retention numbers following the Boston bombing. Not surprisingly given its higher average rating before the bombing, FNC retained the most viewers, while CNN, which had a lower average rating before, saw had less retention.

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CNN claimed the second-place spot among the cable news networks in the busy news month of April, topping MSNBC in both Total Day and primetime for the first time in more than two years. The network also showed the most growth among its competition, up double digits among Total Viewers and triple digits in the A25-54 demographic compared to the same month last year.

The ratings for April 2013 (Nielsen Live + Same Day data):

• Primetime (Mon-Sun): 920,000 Total Viewers / 340,000 A25-54
• Total Day (Mon-Sun): 638,000 Total Viewers / 228,000 A25-54

The month of April was a busy one for all the cable news networks, with extended coverage of the Boston marathon bombing and subsequent manhunt as well as the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas. Every hour of CNN programming was up double or triple digits compared to April 2012, which was an especially slow month for the network. In Total Day, CNN was up +79% in Total Viewers and +109% in the A25-54 demographic. In primetime, the network was up +80% and +128%, respectively.

The 6pmET hour of “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer” showed the most growth of any cable news program in April, up +124% in Total Viewers and +224% in A25-54 viewers. “OutFront with Erin Burnett” posted its best month since launching in 2011, growing +145% in Total Viewers and +221% in the demo year-over-year. Piers Morgan‘s 9pmET program was also up significantly, growing +71% and +119%, respectively.

Two newcomers for CNN — Jake Tapper and Anthony Bourdain — also boosted their respective timeslots. Tapper’s 4pmET program is up +54% in Total Viewers and +108% in the A25-54 demographic compared to the same month last year, when the hour was home to “The Situation Room.” Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown” boosted the Sunday 9pmET hour by +122% and +440%, respectively.

“Anderson Cooper 360″ averaged 1.16 million Total Viewers and 431,000 A25-54 viewers for the month, making it the top rated show on CNN in both ratings measurements.

CNN’s release is after the jump. Read more

Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock‘s upcoming CNN series has been delayed until later this year, TVNewser hears. The show, “Inside Man,” has Spurlock sharing “an insider’s view into rarely-seen sectors of American life that include gun lovers, marijuana growers, migrant farm workers, and end-of-life caregivers.” We also hear that the format may have been tweaked slightly, resulting in the delay.

Spurlock’s “Inside Man” was announced in August, 2012 to much fanfare, as it was the second original series acquisition for the cable news channel. It was supposed to debut this month on the channel, paired with Anthony Bourdain‘s travel show “Parts Unknown.”

Rather than pair the show with Bourdain’s program, CNN may replace “Parts Unknown” with “Inside Man” once this season of “Parts” ends in a few months. With other unscripted projects still having a way to go in development, it will allow CNN to have some continuity in programming on Sunday nights.  A second season of “Parts” is slated for the Fall.

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CNN is on a roll with its new Sunday night show “Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown.” The second episode was the #1 show on cable news in the A25-54 demo Sunday. Fox News, as it does in nearly every hour, had the most watched shows among total viewers. Another good sign for Bourdain, the numbers were up from its debut a week earlier: +67% in the demo and up +30% in total viewers. Bourdain explored the Koreatown section of Los Angeles.

The debut of CNN’s newest show “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” came in first among younger viewers on the cable news channels at 9pmET Sunday night. In fact, it was the most-watched show among the demo all weekend on cable news.

Bourdain drew 282,000 A25-54 viewers and boosted the timeslot for CNN +94% quarter-to-date. The show outdrew MSNBC (171,000), Fox News (137,000) and HLN (66,000) in head-to-head competiton.

Fox News was still first in total viewers drawing 1.33 million for “Fox News Reports: Your Secret is Out.” Bourdain was second with 747,000, up +75% quarter-to-date for the timeslot and CNN’s most-watched hour for the weekend. MSNBC’s “Lockup” (405,000) and HLN Mysteries (287,000) rounded out the group.

CNN “Parts Unknown” host Anthony Bourdain has only had a CNN ID for a few days, and already he had his first hazing. “Piers Morgan Live’”s Piers Morgan hosted Bourdain Thursday evening, and proceeded to make him eat a wide variety of international delicacies.

From turkey testicles and maggot fried rice to Balut, the boiled fertilized duck embryo that is popular in southeast Asia, Bourdain was game.

WATCH:

Related: TVNewser’s report from the launch party for “Parts Unknown.”

Calling it a “huge part of what CNN is going to to be,” CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker welcomed hundreds of guests to Porter House at Time Warner Center for a launch event for the network’s newest show hosted by Anthony Bourdain. “Parts Unknown” debuts Sunday night at 9pmET/PT.

CNN is, in fact, venturing into parts unknown with what Bourdain is cooking up. Bringing in a well-known non-news talent for a weekly one-hour travel/food/cultural awareness show is a departure for the network. Still, Zucker calls “Parts Unknown,” “the true measure of what we want this network to be.”

“We have a true television star in our midst,” said Zucker, who was quickly reminded of the dozen other on air talent in the room. “Not that we don’t have great television stars at CNN …Brooke Baldwin,” said Zucker, noticing the daytime anchor in the crowd, “You’re a television star.” We also spotted Anderson Cooper, (who dropped in before his show) Piers Morgan, Ashleigh Banfield, A.J. Hammer, Christine Romans (above with Bourdain and Baldwin) and John Berman.

Zucker heaped praise on CNN’s SVP of talent and content development Amy Entellis and Vinnie Malhotra, SVP of development and acquisitions, who began courting Bourdain a year ago. Bourdain had hosted “No Reservations” on Travel Channel since 2005.

“I’m grateful to be with CNN,” Bourdain told the crowd. “I got my official CNN ID today so I guess the cavity searches are over.”

The first of 8 original episodes airs Sunday. A second season is set for the Fall. The network is also developing a show with documentarian Morgan Spurlock, and this week announced it would add a Friday night studio audience talk show with CBC host George Stroumboulopoulos.

More pictures from last night after the jump…

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CNN’s Anthony Bourdain is making the rounds this week promoting “Parts Unknown,” his new CNN show which will debut on Sunday. Bourdain sat in on CNN’s editorial meeting today, TVNewser hears, and was given a warm introduction by Jeff Zucker. Wednesday, the channel will fete Bourdain at a party in Time Warner Center.

He also appeared on “Starting Point,” where he talked about why he joined CNN:

“There is nothing more political than food,”Bourdain says. “When you shoot in places like Congo or Libya, politics tends to intrude hourly.”

Anthony Bourdain‘s new CNN Show “Parts Unknown” will bow Sunday, April 14, at 9pmET/PT.

Bourdain’s show is part of CNN’s strategy to branch out from general news of the day to a look at the world through cultural mileposts, in this case how and what people eat. The premiere episode brings viewers to Myanmar. Future episodes include tours of Libya, Colombia, Peru and the Congo.

Bourdain, is a chef, restauranteur, and author but may be best known to TV viewers as the host of “No Reservations” which ran for 8 years on the Travel Channel. He’s also a judge and mentor on ABC’s cooking competition show “The Taste.”