Warner Bros. domestic television distribution and Telepictures Productions announced the deal Thursday, ABC News reports. The syndicated daytime talk show will debut sometime in the fall of 2011.
Cooper will still keep his job as host of Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN, reports say. CNN Worldwide president Jim Walton believes Cooper’s new show would be “good for Anderson, good for CNN and good for Time Warner,” according to ABC News.
Cooper, 43, will include investigative reporting along with with celebrity interviews, although the format of the show has yet to be confirmed.
This new show by the silver-haired anchor will be filling the hole left by Oprah Winfrey when she departs from her legendary daytime show in 2011. But Cooper faces competition: Winfrey’s design guru, Nate Berkus, recently launched his own daytime show, the Wall Street Journal reports, and Rosie O’Donnell “will be returning to daytime with a new show on Ms. Winfrey’s coming cable network, a joint venture with Discovery Communications Inc.” Also, the Ellen Degeneres Show, also by Warner Bros., continues to appeal to viewers.
Warner Bros is banking on Cooper to attract a dedicated audience. Ken Werner, president of Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution said in a statement, according to New York Daily News: “Anderson Cooper is one of the most distinctive voices of the next generation of television. His popularity and skills uniquely position him to be the next big syndication franchise.
