Author: Marisa Guthrie

AP Photo/Peter Kramer

Jeff Zucker

NEW YORK — CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker introduced several new original unscripted series fronted by familiar faces including Mike Rowe and John Walsh that will air in the 9 p.m. slot occupied for years by Larry King and then Piers Morgan. In doing so, he is officially abandoning the interview show, a staple on CNN since King debuted in 1985. 

“We believe that genre is no longer viable. There are just too many outlets with not enough big gets for a pure talk show to thrive any longer,” Zucker told advertisers gathered at Chelsea’s Skylight Modern for the network’s first upfront presentation. “And just because CNN has always done a talk show at 9, it doesn’t mean that’s what we should be doing there going forward.”

STORY: CNN Announces Primetime Lineup, New Shows With Mike Rowe, Lisa Ling, John Walsh

CNN Films projects also will fill the 9 p.m. hour. And the Tom Hanks–Gary Goetzman miniseries The Sixties is set to debut in the 9 p.m. slot this May. Zucker told THR that he had originally planned to switch to original series last month, but breaking news – notably the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – dictated otherwise. And he said he does not believe that interrupting series for breaking news will create a flow problem for the network.

“We’ve been doing it for the last two months,” he said, adding that breaking news brings in a much bigger audience and the hope is some percentage of those viewers return for CNN’s original series.

But he stressed that the network’s paramount mission is news. “We will always give priority to our original breaking news coverage,” he said. Viewers can expect to see Jake Tapper, Bill Wier and Wolf Blitzer presiding over breaking news coverage at 9 p.m.

And with the 2014 mid-term elections looming, Zucker took the opportunity to underscore CNN’s non-partisan approach for advertisers, a notoriously controversy averse contingent, gathered at the upfront.

“In an increasingly polarized world, it’s hard to know who to trust,” said Zucker from the stage. “CNN will be the only news channel that doesn’t take a side.”

Carlo Allegri/Invision/AP

Michael Strahan

Michael Strahan is poised to join the team at Good Morning America.

ABC sources confirm to The Hollywood Reporter that Strahan will be a new addition to GMA. Although it’s unclear exactly when he’ll start, he’ll appear on the show’s 7 a.m. hour before heading to the Live! with Kelly and Michael studio. An announcement is expected later this week.

STORY: Josh Elliott of ‘Good Morning America’ to Depart ABC News for NBC Sports

Talks have been ongoing with Strahan and executives at ABC News for months. And sources stress that he will not replace any of the current GMA anchors; he’s expected to appear often, though not five days a week.

The addition of Strahan balances out GMA‘s very recent gender imbalance created by the abrupt departure of news anchor Josh Elliott. Sam Champion, the show’s weather anchor, left last December for the weather channel. This week, George Stephanopoulos has been the sole male anchor among four female co-anchors.

Elliott informed ABC News executives on Sunday night that he would depart for a deal at NBC Sports. NBC Sports is expected to make Elliott’s addition to the sports division official Wednesday during a conference call with NBC Sports chairman Mark Lazarus. 

STORY: Lara Spencer Finalizes New Deal to Stay at ‘Good Morning America’

Strahan, a former New York Giants defensive end who continues to work as an analyst for Fox NFL Sunday, was something of a surprise pick to replace Regis Philbin alongside Kelly Ripa on the long-running, highly-rated ABC program. But he has proved capable in the daytime arena and appealing to the core female demographic that make up the bulk of morning television viewers.

ABC declined to comment. CNN first reported the news.

Discovery

“Naked and Afraid”

Discovery will strand eight people in the wilderness for 42 days with only the clothes on their backs for a new live television event.

STORY: NBC News’ Willie Geist to Host Discovery’s ‘Everest Jump Live’

Survival Live will air two episodes each week — one pre-recorded and one live. Viewers will be able to track the survivalists’ progress via a 24/7 Web platform that details their biometric data, which will reveal who is physically struggling. But in a twist on the webcam popularized on CBS’ Big Brother, contestants also will be able to ask viewers for help. The onus is on each survivalist to build a social network to help them through their ordeal by getting them things such as a phone call from a loved one for a pep talk or food, clothing, even dental floss.

Each week, the weakest contestant will be extracted during the live episode, while pre-recorded weekly episodes will detail the contestants’ progress. Survival Live — a sort of Naked and Afraid with clothes — is set to premiere later this year.

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: First Look: Discovery Channel Prepares for Live Mount Everest Jump

“It’s a really fascinating opportunity to take one of our strongest genres, survival, and mash it up with a live environment, but also do it in a very social and digital way,” Eileen O’Neill, group president of Discovery and TLC Networks, tells THR.

The network already has mounted live versions of multiple series including American Chopper. And O’Neill has made big-scale live stunts a priority at Discovery, because while event TV is expensive, in an increasingly time-shifted television universe it pays big ratings dividends. Austrian jumper Felix Baumgartner‘s leap from the stratosphere gave the network a record daytime audience of more than 4.2 million viewers, while Nik Wallenda‘s high-wire walk over the Grand Canyon was watched by more than 13 million viewers last summer. Wallenda will announce the location of his next stunt at the network’s annual upfront presentation in New York on Thursday, Apr. 3. And coming up in May (weather permitting), Discovery will present Everest Jump Live, during which free jumper Joby Ogwyn will climb Mount Everest and then leap from the summit in a custom-made wing-suit.

STORY: Discovery CEO David Zaslav Earned $33.3 Million In 2013

Survival Live (working title) is produced for Discovery by Adjacent Productions. The contestants will most likely be stranded somewhere in the Pacific Rim, according to O’Neill.

The success of unscripted adventure shows including Survivor, Amazing Race and Discovery’s Naked and Afraid (in which one male and one female contestant are dropped in the jungle with no food, no water and no clothes) has primed the pipeline of contestants eager to test their skills and possibly achieve (temporary) TV stardom. But O’Neill notes that only experienced survivalists need apply for Survival Live.

“We have a lot of people who want to test their mettle on our survival shows,” she says. “These are pretty rugged environments, so we do background checks and psych checks, and that reduces the pool to choose from pretty quickly.”