Abby Phillip Pays Tribute to CNN’s Aaron Brown

Top of the Ticker: Former ABC News and CNN anchor Aaron Brown passed away on Sunday, Dec. 29 at 76. Brown was best remembered for his coverage of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, which also happened to be his first day on the air. On Thursday, NewsNight anchor Abby Phillip paid tribute to Brown, whose 2001-2005 show shared the same title and timeslot as hers. “What we do every night, here on this program, is try to emulate his excellence,” Philip said.

Our tribute to the original NewsNight anchor Aaron Brown, who died this week at 76. May his memory be a blessing. 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/N5089oQXEz

— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) January 3, 2025

The CNN family—and the news media family at large—also mourned the passing of media executive Dick Parsons during the holiday period. Parsons served as the chairman of TimeWarner, CNN’s former parent company, from 2002 to 2007 and was instrumental in turning the company around after its disastrous merger with AOL in 2000. He also briefly served as chairman of CBS in 2018. Parsons died on Dec. 26 at 76 years old.

High Times: CNN’s annual coverage of the New Year’s Eve festivities from New York City’s Times Square delivered solid ratings for the network. According to Nielsen, New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen was the No. 1 program on cable television from midnight until 12:30 a.m. with 3.7 million total viewers and 1.358 million viewers in the Adults 25-54 demo. It was CNN’s best showing in that time period since 2021.

Happy Days Ahead: Fox Business correspondent Madison Alworth closed out 2024 by getting engaged. She made the announcement while guest hosting The Big Money Show on Dec. 30. “I’m so happy,” Alworth said. “I don’t know what to say other than I feel so incredibly blessed… he’s absolutely the best. I’m so thrilled.”