John Berman is testing new skills on CNN, and the network is watching closely. His weekly show, “Office Hours,” lets subscribers interact with him, ask questions about elections and politics, and see their words appear on screen as he answers them. The experiment is part of a broader push at CNN to make its anchors more accessible to paying subscribers, a move other networks have copied.
Berman hosts “Office Hours” through CNN All Access, the subscription product that carries the network’s full library. The show runs weekly, with Berman joined by his “News Central” co-hosts, Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner. This week’s edition airs Wednesday evening.
Berman’s New Role
“This doesn’t feel like television,” Berman said, even though cameras are rolling. That shift is the whole point. Instead of performing for a studio audience, he is performing for a chat room.
The format includes a “rail” for text chats from correspondents, which Berman can read and respond to during the broadcast. The show also uses interactive video sessions, though CNN tried three or four early sessions via Zoom before seeking feedback from attendees.
The first “Office Hours” with Berman drew participation three times what had been expected. That success is part of why the network is expanding the format.
Why CNN Is Doing This
Ryan Kadro, senior vice president of content strategy at Warner Bros. Discovery-backed CNN, framed the goal in simple terms. There is a “great tribe of people” coming to CNN’s digital venues, he said, and the baseline premise is “we need to engage more directly with people that are coming to us and make talent available.”
Kadro’s words describe a network trying to build loyalty among subscribers who pay month after month. Making anchors more accessible is one way to keep them engaged.
MS NOW has already moved in this direction. Rachel Maddow and members of “Morning Joe” have committed to weekly hangouts with subscribers, and MS NOW has emphasized giving more access to its anchors and correspondents via interactive video sessions on its “Membership” subscription product.
Subscriber Feedback Matters
During a recent episode focused on midterms, Berman kept getting questions about Trump’s $5,000 check proposal. On TV, he said, “we talked about it and it went away.” But not for the people watching.
“I’m trying to respond to the people who are viewing it,” Berman said. “I don’t have control, and I don’t mind that.”
He turned subscriber feedback into conversation the next morning while anchoring. That is the core of the experiment: the audience shapes the show in real time.
What This Means for TV News
This is not a gimmick. It is a structural change. CNN is treating its subscribers as participants, not viewers, and that changes how anchors behave.
Berman noted that he does not have control, and he does not mind that. That openness is part of the appeal.
The competition is watching. MS NOW’s hangouts with Maddow and “Morning Joe” are direct comparisons, and CNN’s move toward more interactive sessions means the trend is spreading across the industry.
The Bottom Line
The format works because it is honest. Berman does not pretend he is talking to a studio audience when he is talking to a chat room.
The subscriber hangouts are a step in that direction, and they reward networks that commit to them.
The Paramount Skydance bid to take over CNN’s parent company may affect scrutiny of CNN’s business plan, but the “Office Hours” format is a bet on engagement, not a response to pressure from investors. Whether it lasts depends on whether subscribers keep showing up.
Key facts:
- “Office Hours” airs weekly on CNN All Access
- Hosted by John Berman with co-hosts Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner
- Participation on the first episode was three times what had been expected
- CNN tried three or four early sessions via Zoom before gathering feedback
- Rachel Maddow and “Morning Joe” members offer weekly hangouts on MS NOW’s Membership
- Midterm episode featured persistent questions about Trump’s $5,000 check proposal
Source material: “CNN’s Interactive ‘Office Hours’ Has John Berman Testing New Skills,” Variety.
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