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On most afternoons, the anchor leads conversations on “The Arena,” her late-day program that examines big stories in Washington. At many times, there is also a different kind of on-screen chatter. CNN has for months been experimenting with a “text chain” featuring lines of running commentary from reporters, experts and contributors who are not taking part in the discussions going on in Hunt’s studio. The effect? Viewers see a second conversation that looks a lot like what they might find on their smart phones.
“I think it holds viewers,” says Hunt, during a recent interview. “You can hear from people who are professional journalists and experts, as opposed to the free-for-all” people often get when they turn to X, Threads or their own text conversations.
CNN is trying to keep people who might gaze at a second screen focused instead on the first.
Use of similar text-chain graphics has spread to other types of programming. CNN featured a “live analysis” section on screen during its coverage of President Donald Trump’s remarks at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in late July. John Berman, Betsy Klein and Brian Stelter were among the personnel who could be seen offering comments as Trump spoke. CNN has used the design during certain live news events — a Capitol Hill hearing, or a Supreme Court oral argument, a court proceeding involving Trump when cameras were not allowed — when capturing the scene without interruption from anchors or correspondents is critical.
There are thoughts about deploying the live chat elsewhere, says Abigail Crutchfield, CNN’s senior vice president of Washington and special events programming. There could be value in a similar presentation during red carpet coverage at big awards events, or during a fashion showcase, she says during a recent interview. “We are offering our viewers and subscribers an opportunity to get what has sort of traditionally been seen when people are watching other screens, she says. Now, CNN sees a chance to “make it one screen and curate who are the experts.” Subscribers to CNN’s nascent “All Access” service can in some cases opt for a “feed” of text contributions that overlay linear shows.
Can CNN out-tweet X and similar venues? All the mainstream news outlets ought to see if they can, argues Jaime Spencer, chief operating officer of Magid, a consultancy that advises TV stations and media companies. “There is certainly an engagement challenge with traditional platforms,” he says, noting the growing appeal of individual “creators” offering newsletters and video podcasts. “People are playing around with a lot of stuff, and they need to,” Spencer adds.
Younger viewers — the ones who CNN and other outlets hope to cultivate in months and years to come — aren’t necessarily getting breaking news from traditional sources. Young adults are more likely to say they turn to search engines and social media for breaking news, according to a survey conducted in 2026 by Pew Research Center. Approximately,31% of adults under 30 indicated they turned to social media first to get more information about breaking events, while only 6% of Americans 65 and older said the same.
Others have tried similar gambits. Fox News Channel’s Will Cain speaks into what appears to be a large radio microphone — a signifier of the more freewheeling conversations held by video podcasters –during his daily afternoon hour on the network’s weekday schedule. MS NOW is expanding its use of taped video podcast segments from Crooked Media and other providers on weekend evenings. CNN has been spotted experimenting in real time, staging longtime host Anderson Cooper on screen in less formal environments and, on occasion, without a tie.
And yet, some TV viewers may have seen such stuff before. Having short bits of text scroll across the screen evokes programs like “TRL,” the one-time music showcase from MTV that proved popular with younger viewers tuning in after school. The program often invited its audience to send in short messages, which producers would select and then scroll across the screen. The CNN technique may also remind audiences of “Pop-Up Video,” the VH-1 program that paired music videos, with little “bubbles” of information that would be appear alongside the entertainment.
Hunt simply wanted to emulate something she has long used to help inform her reporting. “I run an email on big nights when I’m reporting on site,” she says. “I would just be in touch constantly with sources and then share the insights of that group.” Executives at CNN liked the idea, says Crutchfield, and thought it would get more information to viewers. “She has so many sources who could not be in studio every day,” she notes. “How do we bring that to the flow?”
CNN has no hard data, but producers believe the “text chain” gets viewers to focus more closely on the linear screen, says Crutchfield, and perhaps delay any turn to a smartphone or social media platform for additional commentary. For viewers who may watch the show without audio, the comments give them more to watch. “It gives them another way to get deeper analysis than we could offer in a chyron or a banner,” she says.
Use of the “text chain” creates new assignments behind the scenes. At “The Arena,” Hunt says, producers now book guests for the feature each day, usually from a group of reporters, correspondents and contributors that would take part in the traditional show at one time or another.
“I’m a big believer that viewers really connect with people they see often,” says Hunt, who notes that text contributors often get different responses from viewers. “They get very specific feedback when they are on ‘text chain.’ People see what they are writing, and they will respond directly to an idea or thought, as opposed to when they sit in on set and hear, ‘Oh, I saw you on TV,” Hunt says. “I think a lot of people are surprised by the level of reaction they receive.”
There are some limits. Viewers shouldn’t look for the freewheeling commentary and opinion that makes up so much of online chatter. “This is different from social media, or expressions in viewer comments, where you’re getting everyone’s opinion and is more unfiltered,” explains Crutchfield. “We are really focused on what matches our brand better, that expert context and analysis. We are trying to curate the room, and it’s really about the people who cover the subject, a lawyer, if that’s necessary or a White House reporter. It’s people who have knowledge.”
A gatekeeper monitors the process in the studio but still must move quickly. A producer collects comments via the Slack short-form messaging platform, says Hunt, and examines comments to make sure they are not defamatory or outlandish. “In an era where we get an incredible volume of information with fewer tools to sort through whether that information is true and what is not,” CNN’s process helps it maintain its “trusted” status, Hunt says.
There are no plans at present to deploy the on-screen “text chain” everywhere on CNN, says Crutchfield. The running text would distract from interviews of newsmakers, for example, but executives do see more chances to use it. When Hunt’s show televised an important Capitol Hill hearing for most of its hour, it relied on the host to offer analysis via the texts, so the event could be shown without interruption. At the start of the next hour, says Crutchfield, CNN abandoned the technique, thinking that it was specific to Hunt’s show. In the future, she suggests, producers might continue using it during live coverage.
The on-screen commentary helps CNN vie more handily against a phalanx of digital competitors. “I think people are hungry” for more context, says Crutchfield. “That’s why so many people are going on social during events or speeches., Use of the new analysis tool “will evolve,” she says. “These are early days.” %!s(
