TV.com

The Los Angeles Times reported today that CNN is removing Aaron Brown from its flagship news show NewsNight and is replacing him with Anderson Cooper. Brown has been with the network for four years and has been one of its most prominent anchors. Cooper, who is the son of socialite and writer Gloria Vanderbilt, is the host of Anderson Cooper 360 who has been coanchoring NewsNight with Brown since September. Ratings for NewsNight are up 13 percent from the same time period last year.

Effective November 7, Anderson Cooper 360 will become a two-hour broadcast that will replace NewsNight at 10 p.m. Wolf Blitzer will take over 360's 7 p.m. time slot with an evening edition of The Situation Room.

CNN/US president Jonathan Klein told The Times that Brown's departure was a mutual decision. "There weren't that many options left that made sense for someone of Aaron's stature," Klien said.

Klein went on to say, "Anderson acts like a regular human being, not like an anchorman. He's comfortable in his own skin. He lets his passion for the stories show. It's refreshing, and it's authentic. You don't want an anchor who's just so over it. Too many on TV, like overpriced NBA stars, are just phoning it in. Anderson gets in the game. It's infectious."

Aaron Brown came to CNN from ABC, where he hosted the Saturday edition of World News Tonight. Brown's first day on the job at CNN was September 11, 2001. Within an hour of the terror attacks on New York City, Brown began his live coverage from a nearby New York rooftop. He had recently been getting flak for being too cerebral and snarky, with some dubbing him "Arrogant Brown."

Anderson Cooper made news himself recently by voicing the feelings of many viewers when he became visibly upset while broadcasting from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Since then, he has been gaining popularity for his boyish good looks and his "human" reporting style.