CNN CEO Chris Licht is leaving after less than a year on the job, having failed to turn around the ailing news network. He resigned effective immediately on Wednesday.
“I have great respect for Chris, personally and professionally,” stated David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery.
“The job of leading CNN was never going to be easy, especially at a time of huge disruption and transformation, and he has poured his heart and soul into it,” Zaslav added. “While we know we have work to do as we look to identify a new leader, we have absolute confidence in the team we have in place and will continue to fight for CNN and its world-class journalism.” World-class journalism? From CNN? HA!
In 2022, Zaslav chose Licht to replace Jeff Zucker, who had to leave because of a long-planned deal that would give Zaslav control of CNN. But I remember at the time it was because he was having an affair with an employee and he was not open and honest about it.
After just over a year, Licht is no longer employed, and the future of Zaslav’s CNN is unknown. CNN executives Amy Entelis, Virginia Moseley, and Eric Sherling, along with incoming Chief Operating Officer David Leavy, are set to serve as the acting leadership team.
Leavy, a long-time friend of Zaslav’s, was recently hired as COO, signaling to many that Licht wasn’t going to last. This week, sources revealed that Licht’s exit appeared inevitable, and morale was at an all-time low.
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNELPuck’s Dylan Byers, a former CNN reporter who has been following Licht’s difficulties for months, broke the news.
Licht stated unequivocally that he wants to “tamp down the spectacle” that was prevalent during the Zucker era. He cut back on the network’s use of breaking news graphics, fired left-wing personalities like John Harwood and Brian Stelter, and called out to Republican politicians who had been turned off by the previous administration’s approach. Liberal staffers who missed Zucker’s partisanship never warmed to Licht, who joined CNN from CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
He was frequently chastised by liberal media critics, and his term was marred by internal leaks from CNN employees. He was also compelled to make difficult decisions, such as canceling CNN+, a highly derided Zucker-era project that perplexed bystanders and insiders from the start, and implementing company-ordered layoffs.
However, some of Licht’s most serious wounds were self-inflicted.
Licht, a whiz kid producer who helped launch MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and reinvigorated CBS’ morning show, subsequently said that CNN’s morning show will be “re-imagined.” He later created an AM show centered on presenter Don Lemon, another left-wing personality who survived Licht’s initial purges but did not get along with co-hosts Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow. The show was recognized for its on and off-air melodrama rather than its coverage. That drama was brought on mostly by the drama queen, Don Lemon.
After Chris Cuomo was sacked in late 2021, Licht went the entire year of 2022 without naming a permanent replacement for the 9 p.m. primetime slot. Licht tinkered with the slot, filling it with specials and town hall meetings that didn’t resonate with viewers. Collins was eventually chosen to replace the important schedule, but Licht left before her new show made a dent.
CNN’s ratings were atrocious under Licht, and he was frequently chastised for attempting to improve daytime programming by merely rearranging existing hosts. But maybe Licht’s biggest blunder, at least in terms of his strained relationship with network employees, was last month’s town hall gathering with former President Trump.
Licht was chastised for giving Trump a platform in general, placing Collins in a difficult position because the audience was packed with rowdy Trump supporters who applauded his statements, particularly when he labeled her “nasty.” Liberals were outraged that Licht gave Trump so much leeway, allowing him to utilize CNN’s platform to spew anti-left talking points.
“It’s hard to see how America was served by the spectacle of lies that aired on CNN Wednesday evening.” CNNC media writer Oliver Darcy wrote in his newsletter hours after Trump’s town hall.
Darcy was chastised by Licht for “emotional” reporting, but that didn’t stop him from criticizing his boss in his newsletter in the weeks that followed.
If the town hall wasn’t the final straw for Licht, it was a devastating exposé on his rocky year as CNN’s CEO published on June 1 by The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta. Alberta was given wide access to Licht, who was depicted in the report as confident in his vision of reconstructing the network but also aloof, self-obsessed, and hated.
The unfavorable report became the talk of the media business, and things got so bad that Licht apologized to CNN employees this week for becoming a distraction.
