Jeff Zucker’s handiwork is beginning to take shape at CNN.

The cable network announced Thursday that Chris Cuomo and Kate Bolduan will co-host its anticipated new morning show, which is set to premiere this spring. Cuomo, the star journalist and legal analyst, was hired away from ABC in January and has since been leading special event coverage for CNN. He is the brother of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Bolduan has been with the network since 2007 and is currently the co-anchor of “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.”

CNN also announced that Michaela Pereira, of KTLA “Morning News” in Los Angeles, will join the program as news anchor. Pereira comes from an ethnically diverse background. Recently, CNN had been criticized by some black and Hispanic journalists groups for a lack of diversity among its on-air talent. The criticism heated up amid Zucker’s recent hiring spree, which included even more white faces and came at the expense of Soledad O'Brien, who announced in February that she will no longer be the host of “Starting Point.” Last month, Zucker met in Atlanta with leaders from the National Association of Black Journalists to discuss the issue of black journalists at the network, FishbowlDC reported.

Zucker, who recently took over for Jim Walton as president of CNN Worldwide, has a proven track record with the morning-news formula. At the age of 26, he became the youngest-ever executive producer of NBC’s “Today” show, which grew into the most-watched morning show on television under his tenure. Zucker later climbed the ladder to become president and CEO of NBCUniversal. He left the company in 2010 following the much-publicized debacle over Jay Leno’s short-lived departure from “The Tonight Show.”

CNN’s yet-to-be named morning show will be broadcast from the network’s New York City studios near Columbus Circle.

CNN is part of the Turner Broadcasting System, a unit of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX). For more details on the new morning show, see the network’s full announcement.

Got a news tip? Send me an email. Follow me on Twitter: @christopherzara

RELATED STORIES
New York