'''Anderson Cooper 360°''' (commonly shortened to either ''AC-360'' or ''360'' and never spoken with the word "degrees", despite the use of the degree symbol in the title) is a two-hour television
news show on
CNN, the first hour always
broadcast live,
hosted by
Anderson Cooper.
Broadcast from CNN's
Time Warner Center studios in
New York City, the program is
simulcast on both CNN and
CNN International (1st hour only except for breaking news or select special interest stories) at 10 p.m.
ET, making the show available to people around the world. The program covers a number of the stories of the day, usually through live or taped news reports from the network's
correspondents. The coverage can also include analysis from experts on the issues, commonly featured in, or after, the taped reports.
Cooper often anchors the program
from the site of a major news story, such as his extensive coverage from
New Orleans and the
Gulf Coast in the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina.
Originally launched on
September 8,
2003, 360° was initially a laid-back
news/
talk program, only running one hour at 7 p.m. ET. During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, with the growing popularity of Cooper and the impressive growth in the ratings of ''
NewsNight'' with his reports from the location, CNN executives decided to cancel ''NewsNight'' and replace it with 360°, making it two hours in length, all as of
November 7,
2005.
Segments
Regular segments include "360 Raw Politics" which recaps the political news of the day; "Keeping Them Honest" which exposes possible issues of government corruption, failed promises, and other anomalies; and "The Shot," which features light-hearted pictures and video clips usually sent in by viewers. "Giving 360" is a segment which honours people who have done good deeds for their respective communities. Usually towards the end of the hour, the program also features a quick review of other news stories of the day entitled "360 Bulletin," usually reported by
Erica Hill of
CNN Headline News' Prime News.
Over the summer during the second hour of the program, the show almost always simply rebroadcasts the first hour, except during breaking news events, to update developing stories, or to air an occasional hour-long in-depth report of an issue of special interest. Starting in
September, the program will revert back to it's 2 hour live format.
Supplements to the TV show
The show's website (at http://www.cnn.com/360) tells its visitors what's coming up in the next show, what the show is all about and provides links on sending feedback, as well as suggesting content for the "Keeping them Honest" and "The Shot" segments.
The show's blog (at http://www.cnn.com/360blog) gives viewers an inside look into the stories Anderson Cooper and other CNN correspondents are working on for the show. It also provides the visitors a way to give feedback for each entry.
The 360 Podcast (available at http://www.cnn.com/ac360podcast and
iTunes), which lasts between 15 to 25 minutes, gives viewers selected segments of the most recent show so that they can download it to their
PC and/or take it with them on their
iPod. It is usually available before 6.00 ET after the show aired.
Recognition
In 2006, ''AC360'' was nominated twice for a
GLAAD Award in the category of "Outstanding TV Journalism - News Segment". The nominated segments were "School Outing" and "Secret Sex Lives". The show has won the following awards:
★ 2006
Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Coverage of a Breaking News Story Long Form for his report on the famine in Niger
[1];
★ 2006
Emmy Award for Outstanding Feature Story in a Regularly Scheduled Newscast for his report on Charity Hospital
[2];
★ 2006
Emmy Award for Outstanding Coverage of a Current Business News Story In a Regularly Scheduled Newscast for his report on Black Market Infertility
[3];
Trivia
★ Some background music is performed by
Radiohead,
The Killers,
Flin Flon, and
Beck.