Abby Phillip has renewed her contract at CNN, securing her position as host of NewsNight at 10 p.m. as the network navigates significant uncertainty over its future ownership. The deal makes Phillip the latest of CNN’s three prime-time anchors to lock in a new agreement, joining Anderson Cooper, who renewed last year, and Kaitlan Collins, who has several years remaining on her existing deal.
Phillip joined CNN in 2017 and has built one of the network’s most socially engaged programs with NewsNight, whose roundtable segments frequently go viral as figures from across the political spectrum debate the top stories of the day. Beyond her nightly show she also hosts the Saturday morning roundtable Table for Five and the streaming series Confessions and Obsessions. She previously served as the network’s senior political correspondent and host of Inside Politics Sunday, and prior to CNN worked at The Washington Post, ABC News and Politico.
The timing of her renewal is significant. CNN’s fate is currently tied to Paramount’s proposed $110 billion acquisition of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, a deal that has cleared federal antitrust scrutiny but is being challenged by a coalition of twelve states. Some CNN staffers have expressed concern about how a new owner might approach the network, including fears that CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, who was installed by Paramount’s David Ellison and reports directly to him, could be handed authority over CNN. No such management structure has been announced.
According to Variety, which first reported on Phillip’s new contract, the agreements were negotiated as they came up rather than as part of a coordinated effort to constrain an incoming owner. Nevertheless the contracts do provide compensation guarantees if anchors are moved to different assignments, making a sweeping prime-time overhaul more expensive for any new ownership.
The companies are currently barred from completing the merger until five days after a ruling on the merits of the states’ antitrust challenge or June 1, 2027, whichever comes first.