Some changes are coming to CNN and HLN in the new year, starting with some movement among three top network executives: Bill Galvin, Katherine Green and Mike McCarthy.

TVNewser has learned that after two years as HLN’s senior vice president, Galvin will move to CNN International as SVP of business development and sports programming, responsible for special coverage and sponsored content of CNNI. He will also be in charge of sports coverage across CNN Worldwide.

Green will move into the role of SVP and managing editor at HLN. She has served as the SVP of programming at CNNI since 2007. McCarthy, currently VP of coverage and feature programming at CNNI, will be promoted to her former post.

After the jump, read the internal memo to staffers sent earlier today by Tony Maddox and Scot Safon.

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Joy Behar is ending her HLN run after a little more than two years on the network.

HLN executive in charge Scot Safon is holding a meeting with staff at this hour announcing the change. The show will end its run mid-next month, with repeats until the end of December. One of HLN’s primetime shows — perhaps Nancy Grace — is expected to re-air in Behar’s timeslot in the New Year.

Behar debuted on HLN in September 2009 at 9pmET, but moved to 10pmET earlier this year with the launch of “Dr. Drew.” Behar’s ratings held. And thanks in part to coverage of the Casey Anthony trial, the show’s third quarter saw a +38% improvement from Q3 2010. Behar will continue on “The View.”

“I am very proud of the show that we created at HLN and I owe tremendous thanks to the show team who made it possible,” Behar says in a statement.

Rumblings of a change have been in the air. Last Wednesday, Behar EP Conway Cliff was spotted having lunch with CNN executive Bart Feder at the CNN Center.

“Joy and her team produced over 500 episodes of a show that featured news-making interviews, great conversation and plenty of humor,” says Safon. “We thank Joy for the many memorable moments she gave the HLN audience.”

An unknown number of staffers will be laid off with their positions eliminated on January 3. As always with these kinds of changes, they can apply for other jobs within CNN.

HLN’s web presence has long been relegated to a subsection of CNN.com. That in and of itself is not a bad thing, as CNN has one of the strongest digital presences of any news organization. But as the focus of coverage by CNN and HLN have diverged, executives at the company decided that CNN’s sister channel deserved a website to call its own.

Last week, HLN quietly launched HLNtv.com. Scot Safon, the executive VP in charge of HLN, says that the has been in the works for about a year, and is still in “beta.”

“It is like a Broadway show, it is in previews right now,” Safon told TVNewser, explaining that while the look is about right, the site as a whole is still a work in progress. “Where the site is three weeks from now is probably more reflective of what It ultimately will be.”

CNN.com will continue to serve as the publisher of HLNtv.com, though HLN will have editorial control of the site. In August, HLN laid off a number of employees as it changed its editorial structure to more closely align TV and digital production. That new structure results in a web presence that shares a voice with the TV programs, Safon says.

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Think HLN will be forgoing political coverage in 2012? Think again.

“We are definitely focused on that story, because that is going to be driving the news water cooler in this country in 2012,” HLN executive VP Scot Safon tells TVNewser.

HLN is planning to cover the 2012 elections from a decidedly different angle than the other cable news outlets however. The channel is planning to focus on the people behind the politics, by telling viewers more about the politicians themselves, as well as their families and staff.

Safon points to the recent interview Herman Cain gave to Robin Meade, as well as the follow-up stories from the channel, as what they were looking to accomplish:

As an example, Safon mentioned HLN’s 9 PM host Dr. Drew Pinsky, and how he might approach coverage of politicians:

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Last night, HLN host Nancy Grace did the cha-cha on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars.” Grace started by sitting behind what appeared to be her desk:

Meanwhile, at HLN headquarters in New York, a viewing party was held. Italian food from Carmine’s was brought in, and HLN executive VP and GM Scot Safon joined the team to cheer Grace on. Decorations, noisemakers and lots of garlic bread and pasta were on hand:

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There were layoffs at HLN yesterday as the network prepares to reorganize its afternoon hours. The timing of the reorg is tied to the Fall launch of HLNTtv.com.

“The HLNtv.com/HLN television alignment will be particularly critical between the hours of noon and 5pm, the highest online traffic time of the day,” Scot Safon, executive VP of HLN wrote in a memo to staff Thursday. “HLN will require a new approach to daytime programming that captures the pulse, spontaneity and passion of the online-fueled news conversation. To that end, we’ve had to look closely at how we staff and produce that daypart, and we are reorganizing the dayside editorial team to best meet the audience’s multiplatform demands. Those affected by this reorganization have been notified and new opportunities within this team will be posted shortly.”

Part of the strategy is to add more chat and talk shows in the afternoon, replacing the news-based format it currently features.

Despite the layoffs, HLN is not expected to lose headcount, so new positions have been opened to replace the ones lost

Safon’s full memo to staff is after the jump.

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The Atlantic:

[T]he Casey Anthony story was made for Nancy Grace and Nancy Grace was made for the Casey Anthony story. One would not have developed (or devolved) the way it did without the other. Which brings me to another reason why so many people followed the case. Because they could!

New York Times:

Before the defense lawyers headed to the restaurant, Terrace 390, they criticized what they called the media’s bias against their client. “I think we should all take this as an opportunity to learn and to realize that you cannot convict someone until they’ve had their day in court,” said the lead lawyer, Jose Baez. Ms. Grace took offense. The lawyers attacked the media “like we had something to do with it,” she said. “We didn’t have anything to do with it. This was all Tot Mom.”

Associated Press:

Grace appeared to take [defense attorney Cheney] Mason’s comments personally. “What does he care about what pundits are saying?” she said, adding that she imagines she’s tried and covered as many cases as Mason. She criticized defense attorneys for
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In a memo to staff today, HLN VP of programming Bill Galvin said that Burt Dubrow was joining the network as executive producer of the upcoming program hosted by Dr. Drew Pinsky. Dubrow has a wealth of experience with talk shows, having served as an executive producer for shows hosted by Jerry Springer, Tom Green, Christopher Lowell and Sally Jessy Raphael.

Writes Galvin:

To this day, Burt describes himself as a “student of television,” while Drew calls him “a driving force.”  Scot Safon notes that “Burt has a track record of building very successful programming around top talent…in Dr. Drew, he’s getting the chance to break some new ground on the TV landscape.”

Dr. Drew is looking to have a busy 2011. B&C’s Ben Grossman reports that Pinsky will host a daytime talk show on The CW starting this Fall. That is in addition to the syndicated radio show “Loveline” and his work on VH1.

Galvin’s memo is after the jump.

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TVNewser headed to the Paramount Hotel in Manhattan last night where Joy Behar and friends celebrated one year of HLN’s “The Joy Behar Show” and her Hamptons magazine cover.  Behar was there with her longtime boyfriend Steve Janowitz and her daughter.

Notable tvnewsers in the crowd: CNN’s new president, Ken Jautz who put Behar on the air when he was still running HLN. Also, the newly appointed HLN boss Scot Safon now one week into his new job and sales EVP Greg D’Alba.

Some notable celebrities were there as well: actress Lorraine Bracco, comedian Mario Cantone, and Coutess LuAnn from the Real Housewives of New York.

Behar’s show has increased viewership of HLN’s 9pmET timeslot 14% over the last year, according to the Daily News.

Scot Safon brought drama to TNT and Politics to CNN. His branding campaigns, including TNT’s We know Drama and  the newschannel’s CNN=Politics are felt on the air and in the air at Turner.

But can this marketing guru program a news network?

I suppose that depends on whether you see HLN as a news network.

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