HLN moving Cupp, Banfield programs to earlier time slots

CNN sister-network HLN announced changes to its lineup on Thursday, including moving shows hosted by former CNN “Legal View” host Ashleigh Banfield and former “Crossfire” co-host S.E. Cupp.

Starting Dec. 4, Cupp’s “Unfiltered” will move from the 7 p.m. ET time slot to 5 p.m. ET.

The news analysis program premiered on HLN in August and has struggled to gain ratings, often finishing last on the channel in total viewers and in the important advertiser-friendly 25-54 demographic between the hours of 4 p.m. ET and 11 p.m. ET.

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“Prime Time Justice With Ashleigh Banfield” will also be moving from its 8 p.m. ET time slot to an earlier time on Dec. 4 and it will air an extra hour from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays.

Banfield’s program will be also be changed to “Crime & Justice With Ashleigh Banfield” to reflect the out-of-prime-time start.

Also starting Dec. 4, the network will broadcast taped programming, including the crime series “Forensic Files” and “The Hunt With John Walsh.”

“Less than two years ago, we set out to re-brand HLN as news-by-day and investigation by night,” HLN president Ken Jautz said in an internal announcement obtained by TVNewser.com.

“A big part of that goal was to seamlessly go live from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET,” he continued. “I’m pleased to share that beginning Monday, December 4, we are hitting that target. S.E. Cupp Unfiltered will now air Monday-Thursday from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., leading into a two-hour newly-titled, Crime & Justice with Ashleigh Banfield.”

“This new line-up creates a stronger flow into prime, which now hosts a robust library of highly-rated HLN and CNN Original programming, designed for us to win.”

HLN, formerly Headline News, launched in 1982, two years after CNN became the first national cable news network in the country.