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For anchor Brad Smith, who recently joined the network’s FAST channel, CNN Headlines, navigating news, politics and business in a relentless news cycle is a lot like playing drums, where the drummer sets the tempo for the band--but also has to be ready for anything. “I grew up playing drums in church,” Smith told me. “My dad was a minister of music, and there’s one thing that makes you extremely vulnerable. It's this constant quest for how can I do something just a little bit better? And if you play drums, and we're using all four limbs, plus you're using your mind and trying to control everything, there's a lot of vulnerability involved.” "There’s a constant quest for how can I do something just a little bit better," Smith said. As a musician who’s been banging on drums since he was three years old, Smith says he’s constantly exploring new ways to play and improve--something he hopes to bring to CNN as well. “I think that musician’s mindset has really opened up the door for me to really explore my own vulnerability in a professional setting.” CNN’s expanding investment in FAST programming Smith, who joined CNN in July after stints anchoring at Yahoo! Finance and the streaming platform Cheddar, is part of the network’s expanding investment in CNN Headlines, CNN’s free, ad-supported, and streaming, or FAST, channel. The network has added programming and new faces like Smith, who describes CNN Headlines as the “SportsCenter of general news," with its mix of breaking news, business, politics, entertainment, culture and international stories. MORE FOR YOU "I want to make sure that with any ounce of time people give us, they feel like they’re walking away with an extreme amount of value," Smith said. “I think the way that our production process is set up actually allows us to showcase a product on air that is far different than what a lot of media outlets are doing right now.” That means leaning into CNN’s deep bench of international correspondents, and domestic reporters covering Washington, Wall Street and Hollywood. “It’s really across international news, it’s politics, it’s entertainment, it’s business,” Smith told me. “It is everything that might be popping up in your feed…I think people walk away, and viewers walk away with an entire sense of scope, a holistic view of what's going on in the world.” ‘Being full circle with that first experience’ meeting a CNN icon For Smith, joining CNN means fulfilling a dream he had as a kid, one that was fueled in part by an opportunity to interview Larry King, the interviewer and prime time host who dominated cable news for decades. ForbesCNNers Remember Larry King:‘He Was Vital To The Network’s Ascent’ “Having this experience of joining CNN, and it kind of being full circle with that first experience,” of meeting a CNN legend, “even just trying to get a foot, a toe, anything in the door,” Smith said. “You know, this has been a tremendous opportunity, and I’m so grateful that CNN has seen me as a person that could really be a good steward of where this operation is going.” And Smith believes streaming is where CNN is going. “You know, I think the streaming front is what really excites me for how we’re positioning this offering, because it really does take it to a level that allows us to meet people where they’re moving to,” Smith told me, noting that the network’s investment in CNN Headlines is designed to reach viewers who don’t sit down at night to watch cable news. “I mean, we think about how the entire industry, over decades has really evolved. This is that next hyper growth phase in streaming, and it’s been playing out for sure. But I think now with this offering, it really offers even more of an international presence that CNN already does in the journalistic integrity and the reporting.” Smith will be based in Atlanta, where he’ll be busy outside of work as well as on the anchor desk. Smith recently became engaged, with a wedding planned for late next year.
