CNN 'fast-tracking' all-black panel show: report

CNN is reportedly working briskly behind-the-scenes to produce a panel show featuring an all-black round table.

Page Six reports that the network is "fast-tracking" the concept after viewers responded overwhelmingly well to a group of four black contributors who appeared together during last week's Democratic debates. The four — April Ryan, Andrew Gillum, Bakari Sellers and Angela Rye — had conversed on one of CNN's morning shows, "New Day with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman."

"It was the most excitement on that morning show since Chris Como left as co-anchor," Page Six reports, citing an insider who claims all four individuals are now in talks for a "standalone show."

Details remain under wraps, and CNN did not confirm the report, but "the early chatter is that it could start as a weekend show that would rival MSNBC's programming with Joy Reid, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Kendis Gibson."

The four contributors primed to co-host the show come from unique backgrounds: Gillum was Florida's first-ever black nominee for governor in 2018, ultimately losing to Republican Ron DeSantis in a remarkably tight race that wrapped with a recount. Ryan, an acclaimed journalist, is a longtime White House correspondent, Rye is an attorney who served as the executive director to the Congressional Black Caucus, and Sellers at 22 years old became the youngest black politician in the country.