Editing Crossfire (American TV program) (section)

=== Braden–Buchanan years ===
The concept began in 1978 when [[Tom Braden]] and [[Pat Buchanan]] co-hosted a radio show on then-NBC-owned WRC radio in Washington. The program, on which the two men debated political issues, was highly praised, but its ratings were low and, in 1982, it was cancelled. At the time, [[Reese Schonfeld]], then President and CEO of [[CNN]], was searching for a replacement for his 10pm program. The program put the day's most important newsmaker in the spotlight, caught between a conservative and a liberal journalist. Their ratings, which were low by radio standards, were better than CNN's. Schonfeld signed the pair to a CNN contract for $75,000 each.

CNN's owner, [[Ted Turner]], objected to their hiring but Braden and Buchanan, with a signed contract, threatened a lawsuit. Turner backed down and agreed to give them a half hour at 11:30pm.

The program's original producer was Randy Douthit. It was executive produced by CNN's leading female executive, [[Gail Evans]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://nypost.com/1999/03/23/getting-to-the-top-cnn-style/ |title = Getting to the Top, CNN-Style|date = 1999-03-23}}</ref> The show soon gained ratings and was elevated to a 7:30pm time slot. In 1985, Buchanan left the show for a job as communications director in the [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] White House. His replacement was conservative columnist [[Robert Novak]], who already had a talk show on CNN and was at the time also a regular on ''[[The McLaughlin Group]]''. In 1987, Buchanan returned to the show, replacing Novak. In 1989, Braden was replaced by [[Michael Kinsley]], a liberal columnist for ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine, and editor of ''[[The New Republic]]''.