One anchor's POV: 5 takeaways from my first day anchoring on CNN+

That’s part of what appealed to Audie Cornish about CNN+, the news streaming service that launched to great fanfare on Tuesday. Cornish, whose weekly show will debut in May, told the Washington Post that she thinks the mix of live and on-demand shows will fill a need in the marketplace. CNN’s parent company “is going through a great moment of transition,” she noted, alluding to the uncertainty that comes from WarnerMedia’s pending merger with Discovery. “In those moments of transition and upheaval,” she said, “interesting things can happen.”

— Chris Wallace launched his nightly program “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace” with guest Admiral William H. McRaven. Here’s a clip. Wallace said his goal is “to have conversations, not interviews…”

— On “The Source with Kasie Hunt,” Sen. Mitt Romney labeled some of his GOP colleagues “wingnuts…”

— On the inaugural episode of “Reliable Sources Daily,” we connected the first two anchors on CNN in 1980, Lois Hart and Dave Walker, with the first two anchors on CNN+, Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner…

What I’m learning and unlearning:

In my first week anchoring on CNN+, I’m trying to unlearn two words: “Good morning.” Why? Because a streaming viewer may watch at 1 or 2 in the afternoon, or even at 11 p.m., instead of 11 a.m.

I’m also learning how to segue from one story to another without using a commercial break as a natural buffer, since CNN+ is a subscription service without advertising.

Unlearning old habits and learning new tricks — that’s part of the fun of this new venture. Through rehearsals and discussions, and now real-world feedback from viewers, we’re determining the differences between cable news and streaming news. Some early takeaways:

1) There is lots of room for both: Millions of viewers rely on CNN on cable every day. (In TV-speak, this is the “linear” feed.) CNN+ doesn’t change what’s on the cable channel at all. At the same time, the steady stream (pardon the pun) of emails in my inbox on Tuesday showed ample interest in streaming too, both among cord-cutters and people who have cable but want more.

2) Long or short: Every cable news host knows what it’s like to prematurely end a segment because of a commercial break or other time considerations. But the inverse is also stressful: Having to stretch a boring segment with a weak guest just to fill the allotted time. Streaming is freeing because a show doesn’t have to achieve a certain length “just because.”

3) Less “breaking,” more fixing: Breaking news is one of the reasons why CNN is essential on cable. CNN+ has a dedicated team for special reports and breaking news coverage, as well. But in a streaming app world, a pre-planned show can continue on demand, rather than being “blown out” (to use another TV phrase) by breaking news.

Further reading

— One of the debut original series on CNN+ is definitely of interest to this media newsletter audience: It’s a six-part series titled “The Murdochs: Empire of Influence,” based on Jonathan Mahler and Jim Rutenberg’s groundbreaking NYT Magazine project about the Murdoch family…

— To all the newsletter readers outside the United States who emailed me about wanting to sign up: CNN+ launched in the US first but the company does plan to expand to other markets.