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CNN Tonight is the title of several news programs that were broadcast by American cable network CNN. The CNN Tonight branding has primarily been used for transitional programs aired by CNN in the evening and prime time hours as part of changes to its programming lineup—including the departure (either voluntary or via termination) or reassignment of anchors. It was first used for a short-lived program in 2001 anchored by Bill Hemmer.
In November 2009, CNN Tonight temporarily replaced Lou Dobbs Tonight after Lou Dobbs' departure from the network. In April 2014, a third iteration premiered as a 10 p.m. ET program, as part of schedule changes following the cancellation of Piers Morgan Live; this iteration would later become a full-time program hosted by Don Lemon, and was renamed Don Lemon Tonight in May 2021.
In December 2021, the title was reinstated in the 9 p.m. hour as a replacement for Cuomo Prime Time (and produced by that program's staff), after Chris Cuomo was fired from the network over allegations and evidence of sexual misconduct. Don Lemon departed his program in October 2022 to move to CNN This Morning; on October 10, ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, Jake Tapper became an interim host of the 9 p.m. hour, and Don Lemon Tonight was replaced with hours of CNN Tonight hosted by Alisyn Camerota and Laura Coates.
In late-February 2023, the 9 p.m. hour was replaced with an Anthology series of special reports and interviews under the branding CNN Primetime. The hour's permanent replacement, The Source with Kaitlan Collins, premiered on July 10. In August 2023, CNN subsequently announced that Abby Phillip and Laura Coates would become permanent hosts of the 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. hours as CNN NewsNight and Laura Coates Live respectively.
CNN Tonight ran until January 18, 2010, when The Situation Room was pushed into its timeslot by the premiere of Rick's List. Its permanent replacement, John King, USA, premiered on March 22, 2010.
CNN Tonight premiered on April 15, 2014, with Bill Weir anchoring from Boston to cover the one-year anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing. It returned to CNN's studio the following night, with Weir presenting the program from the set formerly used by Piers Morgan Live (albeit using a store-bought office desk placed off to the side from its main desk and interview area). Don Lemon later became the permanent host of the hour, after which it evolved from a straight newscast to a personality-based program similar to CNN's other prime time shows.
On May 14, 2021, Lemon announced during that night's episode that it would be "the last night that we'll be CNN Tonight with Don Lemon", and teased a major change to the program on May 17. The following day, amid speculation by viewers that he was leaving CNN, Lemon announced on social media that the show was being renamed Don Lemon Tonight beginning May 17. He apologized for the confusion, saying that he "didn't mean to set the internet on fire".
On December 6, his show Cuomo Prime Time was cancelled and replaced with rotating anchors under the CNN Tonight branding, with Michael Smerconish hosting the first week of shows. The program was produced by the Cuomo Prime Time staff, and used a gold-tinted version of the graphics used by Don Lemon Tonight to differentiate it from Don Lemon's show. As of June 2022, the program had largely remained in third place among cable news channels in the 9 p.m. hour, behind MSNBC Prime (a retooling of The Rachel Maddow Show similarly featuring rotating anchors, after Maddow moved to a weekly schedule in May 2022 to accommodate other projects) and Fox News's Hannity.
On September 22, 2022, ahead of the midterm elections and Don Lemon's upcoming move to CNN This Morning, it was announced that Jake Tapper would vacate his afternoon show The Lead and temporarily host CNN Tonight at 9:00 p.m., while Alisyn Camerota and Laura Coates would share a 10 p.m. hour of CNN Tonight to replace Lemon. Don Lemon Tonight aired its final episode on October 7, 2022. The premiere of CNN Tonight with Jake Tapper on October 10 featured interviews with Joe Biden and Dwayne Johnson; while still finishing third overall, it did see an improvement in average viewership over the hour in September 2022, and that night's edition finished second behind MSNBC's Alex Wagner Tonight in the 25-54 demographic.
In January 2023, it was announced that Camerota and Coates would host the 10 and 11 p.m. hours of CNN Tonight respectively. On February 3, 2023, CNN began to air Overtime, the post-show segment of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, as part of the 11:00 p.m. hour of CNN Tonight on Friday nights. On February 28, the 9:00 p.m. CNN Tonight was replaced by an anthology of various special reports, town halls, and interviews under the blanket branding CNN Primetime. By March 2023, Coates had been quietly dropped from the 11:00 p.m. hour, thus extending Camerota's program to two hours; a CNN employee told Business Insider that the network had cited a lack of employees available to staff that hour. Coates would then be named CNN's chief legal analyst in May 2023.
On May 17, 2023, CNN announced that Kaitlan Collins would host a new show in the 9 p.m.. In early-July, it was announced that the new program, The Source with Kaitlan Collins, would premiere on July 10. On August 14, 2023, CNN announced changes to its primetime lineup resulting in the end of CNN Tonight-branded programs, with Abby Phillip hosting the new 10 p.m. show CNN NewsNight, and Coates becoming permanent host of the 11 p.m. hour as Laura Coates Live.
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |Preceded by
The Source w/ Kaitlan Collins
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | CNN Tonight
10:00 PM – 12:00 AM
| style="text-align:center;" |Succeeded by
Anderson Cooper 360° (replay)
(Following First Airing)
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| style="text-align:center;" | CNN Newsroom Live
(Following Second Airing)
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