Crossfire: Questions…

This morning’s CNN announcement on the return of Crossfire raised almost as many questions as it answered. So let’s tick them off…

– When will it air? Will it be a daily show or a weekly show? If daily, at what time? That last question is the most tantalizing because of what it could portend. Let’s assume it is daily…so where does it go? That CNN wouldn’t confirm a time is a sign that other shoes have to drop first (i.e. someone is going to lose an hour/show). That CNN is waiting to the fall to launch it is not a factoid I hang too much significance on other than that CNN is waiting for the summer, which is traditionally a low point in family viewing habits, to end. I’ll lay odds that Crossfire will air in primetime.

– What will the format be? There are four hosts but will the format be two on two or rotating one on one?

– Would MSNBC’s “wish well” reaction at having lost Cupp, not an insignificant loss for the network, still have come out the way it did had MSNBC caught wind of Cupp’s departure? Or would the network have exiled Cupp the way it did David Shuster when word leaked out that Shuster had taped a pilot? Given the way Phil Griffin prizes loyalty, I’m going to venture that the answer to this question is all too obvious…which raises the follow up question of just how tight were MSNBC’s teeth gritting when it released that friendly statement?

– Who replaces Cupp on MSNBC’s The Cycle?

– Is there really a market for Crossfire? Certainly CNN thinks so but, depending on when the show airs, I think the question is a very valid one.