Roland Martin Going After Campbell Brown's CNN Slot

written by Richard Prince

Roland Martin, the CNN contributor who filled in for host Campbell Brown when she took maternity leave last year, will be angling to replace her in the time slot, Martin's agent, Marc Watts, told Journal-isms on Wednesday.
"It's always been a goal of mine, to place Roland in a prime time hosting role," said Watts, a former CNN correspondent himself.

"Once again, a star anchor is leaving CNN. This time it is Campbell Brown, and she is leaving with an extraordinary amount of candor," Brian Stelter wrote Tuesday for the New York Times.

"In a heartfelt statement on Tuesday afternoon, Ms. Brown said she was leaving on her own accord, having concluded that she was unable to compete with the opinion-mongers that dominate cable news in prime time.

“ 'The simple fact is that not enough people want to watch my program, and I owe it to myself and to CNN to get out of the way so that CNN can try something else,' she wrote. 'CNN will have to figure out what that is.' "

". . . In a separate statement, the CNN/U.S. president Jonathan Klein gave no indication about what program or what host would take over Ms. Brown’s time slot.

“ 'Today is about Campbell,' he said in the statement. 'We want to wish her well as she begins the next phase of her life. We respect her decision to leave. We will announce our programming plans in the coming weeks.' ”
In addition to his CNN duties, Martin contributes to radio's syndicated "Tom Joyner Morning Show," writes a column for Creators Syndicate and hosts "Washington Watch," a Sunday public affairs show, on TV One.