CNN Headline News co-anchors Miles O'Brien and Andrea Thompson

Miles O'Brien is a primetime co-anchor with Andrea Thompson of CNN Headline News in addition to his duties as space correspondent for the CNN News Group. Miles O'Brien joined CNN in April 1992. Andrea Thompson is an anchor for CNN Headline News based in CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta. Thompson joined the network in June, 2001. Before joining CNN, Thompson worked as a general assignment correspondent for KRQE-TV in Albuquerque, NM Previously, Thompson starred for four years on ABC's award-winning drama NYPD Blue as detective Jill Kirkendall. O'Brien and Thompson joined the AOL Live chat room from Atlanta, GA.

AOLiveMC15: Please join me in welcoming to AOL Live tonight, from the all-new CNN Headline News, primetime anchor Miles O'Brien! Welcome, Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: It is good to be here! Thanks for dropping by. :)

AOLiveMC15: Andrea Thompson has joined us as well. Welcome, Andrea!

THOMPSON: Thanks for joining us this evening!

AOLiveMC15: We're happy to have you both with us tonight. Let's check out our first audience question:

QUESTION: The new look for CNN Headline News looks pretty cool! What else is different besides what we can see?

THOMPSON: Beside the look of the newsroom, the entire look of the show is different. Instead of a half-an-hour cycle, we reduced it to a 15-minute cycle, yet we deliver three times as much information, with the help of the on-screen graphics.

O'BRIEN: And if you are watching tonight, it was probably pretty obvious to many viewers that we were broadcasting live. And believe it or not, that is a departure for Headline News. For most of its 20 years, it has been sort of a canned product.

QUESTION: Hello, Mr. Miles O'Brien and Ms. Thompson. How do you think tonight's debut show went? Where's it going to be on the "ratings"?

THOMPSON: Overall, I think it went real well. The first half hour was tough, but I believe we pulled it together very well. We had a lot of technical difficulties to deal with.

O'BRIEN: Pulling off the new Headlines News is no small task. It is like that guy on the old Ed Sullivan show with the poles and the dishes on it. There are a lot of dishes to keep up. It was challenging to keep the technology going, but we finally hit our stride. The first night is just one night, and it is just the beginning!

QUESTION: What do you feel is special about the CNN news format? What do you think are the major differences between CNN and other network news?

O'BRIEN: If you take a look at the primetime landscape, there is very little programming on the cable news networks that offers any red meat for hard-news junkies. There is a lot of talk and exchange of opinion. What we are offering is a niche, but one that is often overlooked. We are offering a concise look at information of the day's events for people who don't have a lot of time.

QUESTION: How will breaking stories be dealt with under the new format?

THOMPSON: Under the new format, we'll be able to handle breaking news faster and more thoroughly than any of the other news outlets. Sachikoto will deliver the initial report from our plasma screen, which gives Miles and me the time to gather additional details. Potentially, we can bounce a breaking news event from anchor to anchor, with each anchor giving their own unique area of expertise to flesh out a story.

QUESTION: How long before a broadcast do you get into the studio, and how do you spend that time?

O'BRIEN: Our day begins at 1:00 p.m. EDT when we attend an editorial meeting involving all the principal players in the broadcast, producers, writers, and we talk about the kinds of stories we might be covering and how we might cover them, what might be a likely target for a live interview, what may require a special treatment.

QUESTION: Hi and welcome. Have the two of you ever worked together before?

O'BRIEN: I could have been an actor, but I ended up here!

THOMPSON: No, we have not worked together before.

QUESTION: Miles, I've enjoyed your space reporting and live Webcasts at CNN. Will you continue to be CNN's space guy?

O'BRIEN: Fear not, space junkies, the force is still with me! I am still CNN's space cadet and proud of it. And I will be continuing in that role, although I will not be covering this next shuttle mission; this is not a good time.

QUESTION: After just wrapping up tonight's debut, how do you both feel? Is it different than what you expected?

THOMPSON: Yes, everyone wants their first broadcast to be perfect, and, in reality, we will probably never have a perfect broadcast!

O'BRIEN: I expected it to be a little less repetitive. I think that's something we need to strive for, that we cover the day's events and that our stories are always fresh. We will be working on that. It takes a lot of effort to reinvent the wheel every 15 minutes.

QUESTION: In all seriousness how do you guys feel about filling up about one-quarter of the screen? Kinda strange?

O'BRIEN: It is very difficult to fit both me and my ego in that little box! In truth, I think it is a very useful screen. And when you become used to watching it, it can become useful to get information from it. So while I may be drummed out of the anchor corps for saying this, I think I am willing to give up three-fourths of the screen if it helps viewers!

AOLiveMC15: We have time for one final question tonight for Miles O'Brien and Andrea Thompson.

QUESTION: Live and up-to-date news is important to me, and I like the new format. How much will actually be live?

THOMPSON: Our entire block, from six to nine, is live!

O'BRIEN: We are in an evolution period between what is spit out of a computer server and what is live. Today we started with nine hours of live programming. As we work out the kinks and get the staff in place, that will at least double.

AOLiveMC15: The new Headline News format is pretty cool. I'd urge you all to check it out. Miles O'Brien and Andrea Thompson, the primetime anchors each weeknight, thanks so much for stopping by AOL Live tonight. Any closing comments for us tonight?

O'BRIEN & THOMPSON: We would like to thank AOL members for joining us here, as well as on Headline this evening. Keep tuning in! We are bound to get better! Ha ha!

AOLiveMC15: Thanks again for tonight's chat session, and best of luck with this all-new endeavor. Special thanks to our audience for their participation. Good night!

The above is an edited transcript of an AOL Live chat with Miles O'Brien and Andrea Thompson. It took place on Monday, August 6, 2001, following the first broadcast of the all-new CNN Headline News.

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