CNN CEO Chris Licht has ceded control of business operations to David Leavy, chief corporate officer

[tenderfoot]

The captain of the Titanic steps aside. CNN CEO Chris Licht has ceded control of business operations to David Leavy, chief corporate officer for CNN’s parent company. In Licht’s year as CEO, CNN’s ratings, revenue, and reputation have plummeted.

Link to tweet

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnns-licht-cedes-control-of-business-operations-as-execs-have-diminishing-confidence-report-says/

[sunonmars]

1. Who didn't see that coming. Was only a matter of time

[Rhiannon12866]

2. Twitter replies:

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[Skittles]

3. Amanpour in charge

THAT is a GREAT IDEA

[Rhiannon12866]

4. She's smart and has experience, would certainly be an improvement!

[marble falls]

13. Most importantly: she has credibility.

[onetexan]

8. Hear hear!! Cristianne to restore journalistic integrity & trith back to

The Can't-News-Network. I used to be a cnn junky many years ago when Ted Turner was at the helm. It's now a shadow of what he envisioned it to be.

[Skittles]

14. it has been on long, sad descent

can they make it back - I would say yes, with the right people....but I am doubtful that will happen

[sarcasmo]

33. ETTD @ CNN.

[onetexan]

9. Hear hear!! Cristianne to restore journalistic integrity & trith back to

The Can't-News-Network. I used to be a cnn junky many years ago when Ted Turner was at the helm. It's now a shadow of what he envisioned it to be.

[BlackSkimmer]

24. I can't imagine she'd be in the least interested.

She's a fantastic journalist, and she certainly has no need of money.

[Cha]

44. TY.. here's another.. I like the 2nd one the best..

Link to tweet

[hlthe2b]

5. So if he is "ceding business control," why is HE still there?

[live love laugh]

46. Smoke and mirrors basically. He's not going anywhere.

[wishstar]

6. Unfortunately Leavy is working for Chris Licht to give Licht even more time to screw up CNN "news"

This tweet seems to be mischaracterizing what really happened. Leavy is going to be under the direction of Chris Licht, taking over Licht's duties on the business side so that Licht can focus even more on tweaking day to day CNN program content to appeal to Republicans. Leavy is a close underling of corporate boss David Zaslov who has stated his desire to move CNN toward the center.

[PortTack]

11. How foolish. The utter stupidity is beyond the pale.

I hope they do sink it.

[Liberal In Texas]

25. So, this isn't actually good news.

More like CNN will just get more and more right wing since Licht has more time to f it up.
.

[live love laugh]

47. Pretty much.

[AnotherMother4Peace]

7. CNN lost credibility. What else does a news program have? I don't quite trust them as a news source

[Buckeyeblue]

10. Keith Olbermann predicted this

He told some pretty good stories about Licht and Licht's good buddy Joe Scarborough.

[oregonjen]

34. After listening to Keith's numerous stories, when you read Licht's name,

Do you read it how Keith says it? I can’t help but hear the way Keith says it.

[Buckeyeblue]

35. Ha! Yes I do.

[marble falls]

12. Are they going to still give DeSantis his 'town hall'?

[True Blue American]

15. I just listened to Leavy. He is no better.

They need a long time Investigative Reporter to right that sinking ship. One who knows real News.

[C_U_L8R]

17. Bothsiderism leads nowhere.

And megadonmagadoodoowhatevism, well just ask the big brand sponsors, those magats don't buy anything but shitty pillows, guns, big gulps and reverse mortgages. The future is progressive.

[betsuni]

18. Maybe shadowy fascist oligarchs don't control all media and all is lost, it's an actual business.

[hatrack]

19. Tim Alberta's Atlantic article was published yesterday . . . .

. . . . and its closing paragraphs were about Leavey's arrival as COO of CNN.

Bye, Chris. You really, truly, totally sucked at your job.

[dalton99a]

20. "It wasn't me. Blame that guy Leavy!"

[2naSalit]

21. Maybe that was the plan all along...

To take out CNN. Cable competition can be brutal. Divide and conquer.

[allegorical oracle]

22. CNN made the mistake of thinking that right wingers actually take news seriously. Most of the

drumpsters I know never watched news before tfg came onto the scene and Faux news featured him and his sarcastic, cynical prime time provocateurs.

[lindysalsagal]

23. Keith's monday Countdown podcast will be a hoot. He loves to trash licht.

Countdown w keith Olbermann on iheart radio.

[yardwork]

26. I remember when CNN was first launched. Impressive international journalism.

What a loss.

[Doc Sportello]

27. Allowing Licht to spend more time on the editorial side - Ugh!

From the article: "The official corporate line is that Leavy’s appointment will allow Licht to focus on programming and editorial strategy while Leavy manages the P&L, operational logistics, and marketing and P.R.—and that much is true,” Puck reported.

The problem isn't Licht's bad at business. He's incompetent at journalism and understanding how politics work in this country right now. Not that his overseers care - they just want their RW narrative included in CNN's daily telecasts. And Licht is gangbusters at that, even if it destroys the once solid, but not perfect, reputation of CNN.

[W_HAMILTON]

36. I think that's probably more corporate spin than anything else.

It sounds like they've pretty much given up on Licht and are just doing what they can to save face at this point. I doubt he will have major decision-making authority there when it comes to anything, including programming, but they are probably on the hook for paying him for quite some time and it would make an even bigger story if they cut ties with him like everyone knows they should, so this is just their way of doing that while trying to limit the bad press.

I could be wrong, but that's what my take is (and a lot of others' as well).

[Hugin]

28. Once again proving courting "conservative" audiences is a poor business strategy.

Because they are “conservative” and don’t spend any money on anything except guns, televangelists, cheap beer, lousy pillows, bail, and puffy orange cheese snacks.

QED

[Swede]

29. Zaslav is the puppet master. The Atlantic laid this out last week.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2023/06/cnn-ratings-chris-licht-trump/674255/

[live love laugh]

45. Excerpt

Everyone at CNN had long ago come to realize that Licht was playing for an audience of one. It didn’t matter what they thought, or what other journalists thought, or even what viewers thought. What mattered was what David Zaslav thought. Over the previous year, people who knew Zaslav—and who had observed his relationship with Licht—had depicted him as a control freak, a micromanager, a relentless operator who helicoptered over his embattled CNN leader. Zaslav’s constant meddling in editorial decisions struck network veterans as odd and inappropriate; even stranger was his apparent marionetting of Licht. In this sense, some of Licht’s longtime friends and co-workers told me, they pitied him. He was the one getting mauled while the man behind the curtain suffered nary a scratch.

[gulliver]

30. Kind of amazing watching (some of) my fellow liberals cheering their own boat sinking

But there you have it.

I hope CNN finds a way to get rid of the "C" (cable) in their name and be a locus of credibility and true news. CNN's model doesn't work in the age of streaming. I watch a lot of CNN, but I watch it almost exclusively on YouTube. I prefer that.

[W_HAMILTON]

37. Oh, no. CNN is not "our boat."

They abandoned their journalistic aim when Licht took over, purposefully so, to cater to Republicans. This much has been admitted, although they -- primarily Licht -- will deny it to their death apparently and talk about how they are returning to true objective news coverage, but we see the results. The Trump town hall all was not news coverage, it was abandoning journalistic principles in an effort to win the ratings for one night. Their including of election-denying Republican politicians afterwards to pontificate on the town hall was also not adhering to journalistic standards. They have shown that they have abandoned that. You can't SPECIFICALLY change your strategy in order to cater towards this reality-denying segment of Republicans and then claim you are pursuing journalistic integrity above all else. It doesn't work like that.

And it's not just me. Or most everyone on this website saying that. Some of the well-respected journalists who do uphold these values have rightfully criticized their own network for abandoning these principles with some of these recent moves.

[tenderfoot]

38. Why does NEWS or INFORMATION have to have a side?

That's what CNN used to be. Unfortunately for conservatives, most news tends to not confirm their world views.

[gulliver]

40. Really, it shouldn't, imo

CNN really could try to establish itself as a reliable source of information, but it needs to figure out a model that lets it pay the bills. You build an audience for the truth; you can't just find it. That means audiences themselves need to grow and evolve away from an all candy and salt diet.

[moondust]

31. But John Malone is still around?

~
CNN insiders tell Confider that staffers cannot shake the feeling the shocking move (to fire Brian Stelter) was made to appease John Malone, a right-leaning billionaire, close friend of the Murdoch family, and key Warner Bros. Discovery board member who has made it well-known that he would like CNN to be more “centrist”—whatever that means.

While Malone has denied he is “directly involved” in any decisions about CNN, multiple current and former staffers who spoke to us relayed a fear that the libertarian mogul is indirectly dictating an agenda to newly installed CNN boss Chris Licht.
~
https://www.thedailybeast.com/cnn-staff-fears-right-wing-billionaire-john-malone-will-turn-it-into-a-dumpster-fire

Vox has called him a "Fox News-loving billionaire."

The billynaires decide how things go doncha know.

[ProfessorGAC]

39. Not Really

He's a small stock holder & has little to no influence over operations.
Zaslav is the boss, and his singular concern is money. Whatever makes money is good.
The Daily Beast article is sloppily exaggerated.
Malone was a big shot at Discovery. Part of the merger included him getting a board seat. Since he only holds 1% of the stock, it's obvious the board seat was a merger concession. But, nobody takes direction from him.

[sarcasmo]

32. The shareholders have spoken.

[Cha]

41. "I used to trust this network.. then they Fired.. "

Link to tweet

[Cha]

42. Licht Didn't Heed the Axiom.. Everything

trump touches DIES.

[FakeNoose]

43. Maybe Mr. Licht is already dead?

He pretty much destroyed CNN in one fell swoop.

[Initech]

48. When you hang with Nazis, bad things happen.

Bottom line: Don't hang with Nazis.