An individual walks past the headquarters of the Cable News Network (CNN) on November 17, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images
When former CNN Chief Executive Officer Chris Licht began running the news organization last 12 months, he had a mission from his boss, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav: change the network’s programming and tone to emphasise news relatively than “advocacy” journalism.
With Licht now fired, CNN’s incoming CEO Mark Thompson has a recent job: all the things else.
Thompson, who starts at CNN on Oct. 9, has had preliminary discussions with Zaslav and other members of CNN’s leadership about strategic ideas and priorities, in response to people acquainted with the matter, who declined to talk on the record since the discussions were private. He has made no decisions about CNN’s operations and won’t until he has had a likelihood to fulfill with staffers and learn the business, said the people.
Still, some areas of emphasis are clear. Thompson will concentrate on constructing digital subscription businesses around CNN.com and creating programming for a younger audience on CNN Max, the network’s live news service on Warner Bros. Discovery’s “Max” streaming service, said two of the people.
Licht’s background was programming, as he launched “Morning Joe” on MSNBC and “CBS This Morning” with Charlie Rose, Norah O’Donnell, and Gayle King. Zaslav hired him as a TV programmer — and ultimately fired him after Licht lost the arrogance of his employees and didn’t deliver rankings winners.
Much of Licht’s short reign, which lasted a bit over a 12 months, centered around depoliticizing CNN. Zaslav and Licht agreed that CNN had gotten a repute as left-leaning, and tried to refocus the network as a down-the-middle outlet that might appeal to each Democrats and Republicans. Licht and CNN’s leadership since his firing — a four-person team of Amy Entelis, Virginia Moseley, Eric Sherling and David Leavy — overhauled CNN’s linear shows, including a recent morning show and a revamped primetime lineup.
Licht struggled to win over CNN employees by purposely taking a hands-off approach to distinguish his style from former CNN chief Jeff Zucker, who resigned in February 2022 after failing to reveal a consensual relationship with a coworker. Zaslav felt Licht moved too slowly to make decisions and didn’t appropriately relate to CNN’s talent, in response to people acquainted with the matter. Licht believed he couldn’t be his authentic self given Zaslav’s mandate to be a non-nonsense leader who needed to reform CNN’s image and cut costs, the people said. Licht needed to lay off tons of of employees as a part of a broader Warner Bros. Discovery headcount reduction.
While Licht largely focused on linear programming, Thompson will focus on making CNN a sustainable business for the following five years — a timeline he’s already discussed with some members of CNN leadership, in response to people acquainted with the matter. The work to alter CNN’s repute is basically complete, in response to people acquainted with Warner Bros. Discovery executives’ pondering.
Learn how to cover Donald Trump, a difficulty which defined Licht’s tenure, probably is not in Thompson’s top five priorities as he starts the job, in response to an individual acquainted with the matter. Existing CNN executives imagine they have already got the infrastructure in place to appropriately handle the previous president and current Republican primary candidate because the 2024 election ramps up, the person said.
Entelis, Moseley, Sherling and Leavy all plan to remain at CNN as Thompson takes over as CEO, in response to people acquainted with the matter. All will report back to Thompson. A CNN spokesperson declined to comment on speculation about Thompson’s eventual moves and strategy.
Digital strategy
Thompson’s last job was CEO of the Recent York Times, which he held from 2012 to 2020. He grew the Times’ subscription digital business, which launched in 2011, from lower than 1 million subscribers to about 7 million before he left the corporate in September 2020. During his time because the newspaper’s CEO, shares rose from $9 to about $43 — a gain of greater than 375%.
CNN hasn’t had a transparent digital strategy since Zaslav and Licht decided to kill off CNN+ after only a month in 2022. CNN+, on the time, was a little-watched streaming service that launched without much content. Former CNN chief Jeff Zucker and then-CNN digital chief Andrew Morse hoped it might eventually change into CNN’s version of The Recent York Times — a subscription news product that might feature greater than just video.
Thompson will still should preside over CNN’s linear network, an entity that has declined together with the erosion of the pay-TV cable bundle. But Zaslav is counting on him to make use of CNN.com and its 149 million monthly unique visitors as a funnel to construct digital subscription businesses, said people acquainted with the matter.
One idea being discussed is to construct several subscription products on specific topics inside CNN.com, which might remain with out a paywall, said the people. For purchasers who want all access, CNN could offer a bundle for a reduction. Paying a monthly fee could unlock on-demand or live CNN programming on certain subjects, give users access to particular pieces of in-depth or focused journalism and supply other advantages.
Thompson might also explore ways to integrate Bleacher Report with CNN.com, just as The Recent York Times has done with The Athletic, the web sports media company it acquired last 12 months for $550 million, in response to an individual acquainted with the matter.
Programming CNN Max
Before joining The Recent York Times, Thompson was director-general (a mix of chief executive and editor-in-chief) of the British Broadcasting Corporation. He’ll have a likelihood to develop recent shows at CNN Max, a tab in Warner Bros. Discovery’s larger Max streaming service.
With CNN Max, Thompson will attempt to program for a younger audience. CNN’s linear network largely appeals to older, 60-and-up adults who still subscribe to traditional pay-TV.
Thompson may have some runway to take a position in CNN Max. CNN’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization is anticipated to be closer to $1 billion in 2023 after dipping to $750 million in 2022 when it had about $200 million in losses tied to CNN+, in response to people acquainted with the matter. Attention from the U.S. presidential election must also improve promoting revenue in 2024.
To maintain CNN relevant, Thompson might want to work out news programming that millennials and younger viewers will watch. Former CNN leadership feared news content would get swallowed up by a bigger streaming service, believing it might be difficult to persuade viewers to eschew entertainment programming when each are on the identical platform. That led Zucker and former WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar to push for CNN+, a standalone streaming service.
CNN has already begun considering ideas to unravel that problem, including potentially alerting Max viewers who’re watching on-demand entertainment to CNN breaking news.
“It is a game that remains to be very much to be played,” JB Perrette, president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming operations, said of the streaming-news business last month in an interview with Variety. “No one has figured it out yet.”
That shall be Thompson’s job.
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