He's promising in this incarnation at CNN that he's going to make the channel less opinion driven, less perhaps focused on Donald Trump as the one true story that they really rode during the Trump era. In an effort to restore morale and calm anxiety, Mr. Licht assured CNN employees at a network-wide town hall meeting on May 5 that Warner Bros. As if four years of cruelty, corruption, and incompetenceplus a coup attemptwerent enough, the former president wants Americans to put him back in the White House in 2024. Lemon, which were widely viewed as sexist and insensitive, had left him "disappointed." Licht was the producer of that show before he later went on to produce The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Similarly, the outspoken progressive anchor Don Lemon broke with orthodoxy by asking plainly if Joe Biden, turning 80 in November, had the stamina, physically and mentally, to continue on even after 2024. Your email address will not be published. One such strategy requires CNN only refer to news as "breaking news" when they are really important. While in charge of CBS This Morning, he was credited with making the show unexpectedly successful, giving CBS its most competitive place in the morning show race in almost 30 years. And you have in me as a leader, who has done a lot of your jobs, someone who has your back every step of the way. But the episode encapsulated, I think, the tension between the CNN that's been and the CNN that's evolving. Mr. Licht has looked to Mr. Zaslav as a mentor, and Mr. Zaslav has admired Mr. Lichts work ethic and drive. In his most substantial interview since taking over CNN, the CEO talked about mistakes in Trump coverageincluding those made by his predecessor Jeff Zuckerand how he plans to avoid making . During Tuesdays call, Licht also announced another high-profile hire from CBS News, telling staff that Dr. Tara Narula would be joining as a medical correspondent for the network. Will the Jan. 6 Committee Set Its Sights on the Supreme Court? FOLKENFLIK: Well, let's pause and play a little clip from earlier in the day, on the same day that John Harwood announced he was going to depart CNN. Thats a dream of mine.. He argued he could make CNN a news channel that people trusted, as opposed to one that monetized partisan combat. We will not let everything [Trump] does consume the news cycle, right? Known for . John Malone, a major shareholder in CNNs new owner, Warners Bros Discovery, said that he would like to see CNN evolve back to the kind of journalism that it started with, and actually have journalists. Licht oversees all operations at the global network. The Republican Donor Class Seems Ready to Dump Trump. Earlier this year, DirecTV, one of the largest US pay-TV providers, announced it would drop One America News Network, the conservative channel criticized for spreading misinformation. But, he said, it would be irresponsible not to do the tough work now. He added, I promise you CNN will be more profitable next year.. Can the Republican hold on to the political movement he helped build? He was chosen to represent the Producers Guild of America East on the Board of Representatives in 2018. Whether by design or happenstance, he believed CNN had tacked left, a pale version of MSNBC that nonetheless alienated wide parts of the American electorate with a focus on politics and the president at the time, Mr. Trump. In a memorably raucous December 2016 panel at Harvard, Zucker even argued that other Republican candidates failed to seek the same media attention that Trump did, to which rival GOP campaign strategists cried bullshit.. But even he had his limits. The two men have known each other for 15 years, since both were working at NBC, where Mr. Zaslav helped start MSNBC. We have fact-checkers ready to go. This wasnt to plot a new course but to assure people we would not let up one inch in being truth tellers, he said. Thats a little bit like asking why The New York Times has had more stories about Hillary than anyone else." Almost every show devolves into hysterical attacks on Trump. "[25], While Licht was executive producer of CBS This Morning, the series won a Peabody Award and three Emmy Awards (one Daytime Emmy Award and two News & Documentary Emmy Awards). Everyone is really nice; you can say anything you want, and nobody leaks it. He wants to reshape the team that's covering the White House, to focus more on reporting and less on analysis. Which, again, echoes what new CNN boss Chris Licht has been telling employees he wants to do with his network to remove the perception, which he thinks is accurate, that CNN has a liberal. Hey, David. In a series of additional town hall meetings, most of them leaked almost immediately to The New York Times and other news outlets, Mr. Licht also laid the groundwork for the networks shift to broader, less political and less partisan coverage. Chris Licht is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CNN Worldwide. After Mr. Licht hung up, his wife, Jennifer Blanco Licht, a former TV executive herself, asked: Is this crazy? He plays golf frequently in his leisure time. We're brought up to believe there's two different political parties with different points of view, and we don't take sides in honest disagreements between them. He was selected to take over this role after the former president of CNN, Jeff Zucker resigned abruptly. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Prior to Morning Joe, Licht worked as an executive producer and senior producer for Joe Scarboroughs MSNBC show Scarborough Country.. CNN staffers are upset over buzz that Chris Licht plans to hire Charles Barkley. By almost any measure, he has had a rough start. The list includes media correspondent Brian Stelter, whose show Reliable Sources was canceled last month, as well as legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin and political correspondent John Harwood. Each time, Mr. Colbert begins with the same four words: "I told you . The announcement comes as Trumps lies about the 2020 election, and incitement of the Capitol mob, are front and center at the January 6 hearings airing on CNN and other major networks. Inside Politics will remain at noon-1 PM ET, . Rick Karle is an American journalist working at WVTM 13 as a news anchor and reporter. Daily updates from Washington, Wall Street, and Silicon Valley. Which proves my point: so much of what passes for news is name-calling, half-truths and desperation.. We let every little thing that he did consume everything, and so you ended up talking about him for eight hours a day. In covering Trump and his 2024 bid, Were going to be very clear and take everything on a case-by-case basis about what level of coverage it should be, Licht said. They say they're reformulating how they're going to cover the media. As part of this effort, he has advised against overusing Breaking News banners in CNNs live coverage and spurned the networks infamous partisan debate panels. CHANG: OK. August 1, 2022 CNN's new CEO, Chris Licht, has been attending to an audience neglected by the network for the past several years: Republican lawmakers. A contract ensued. That split comes down a split over the fears for democracy in America. Then came the politically divisive response to the Covid pandemic, a European land war, climate disasters, police violence, mass shootings and now an economic reckoning. Licht purportedly told the producers that his stance did not constitute a mandate for CNNs shows which are in the midst of covering the ongoing Jan. 6 select committee hearings on the events surrounding last years Capitol riot. CNNs ratings declined, on average, this year compared with 2021, according to Nielsen, with CNN falling behind MSNBC for the first time in prime time on election night among total viewers. More at IMDbPro. Mr. Licht said he used the analogy to make clear that a less-partisan CNN did not mean it was any less committed to truth. ), One-hundred percent. On one side is the view that this is politics and it should be covered aggressively. Warner Bros. Zaslav called Licht . (They later married. She works as a Correspondent for NBC News. He is best known as the showrunner and executive producer of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, as well as CBS's executive vice president of special programming. Chris Licht, the new CNN chairman, is encouraging a more nuanced approach to coverage. Is Secession the Answer to American Disunity? CNN had also become the poster child for the poisoned relationship between former President Donald J. Trump and mainstream media organizations. Beginning in the fall, the network on Sunday evenings will air the show from former Fox News anchor Chris Wallace that was on the ill-fated CNN+. Is your family ready for this? Or will it collapse around him? After long absences, several Republicans have since appeared on CNN, including Mr. McCarthy and Senator Rick Scott of Florida. And he also promises, without specifying, he says CNN's got to be more entertaining and better TV. Thats why Im here. Chris Licht. On Feb. 28, Chris Licht was named CNNs new chief executive. . As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Chris Licht, the producer who created "Morning Joe," revamped "CBS This Morning" and revitalized "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," has been selected to run CNN once Discovery merges with . Newhouse School of Public Communications alumni, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 15 February 2023, at 17:30. The networks previous parent, the telecommunications giant AT&T, had just spun off its Warner Media subsidiary, which included CNN, into a new company run by Discoverys chief executive, David Zaslav. Ad Choices. Trumps Relationship With Jared and Ivanka. Licht appears to be taking a neutral stand in matters of politics. Each time, Mr. Colbert begins with the same four words: By almost any measure, Mr. Licht, 51, has had a rough start. Read More Maggie Vespa NBC News Salary, Age, Height, Husband, Net WorthContinue. News is supposed to be serious. AT&Ts board had approved an ambitious budget of $350 million for CNN+, much of it already spent by the time Mr. Licht arrived. A few months later, high-profile departures and arrivals may signal how he will lead the network. In 2005, he moved to NBCs sibling network, MSNBC, soon becoming an executive producer for Morning Joe, which he helped develop into an improbable success in its hotly competitive morning time slot. Miller most recently served as the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence & Counterterrorism. Licht is married to Jenny Blanco. He comes not from the ranks of objective news but from the conservative-bashing world of liberal infotainment. In a series of interviews with The Times, Mr. Licht visibly came to life talking about This Morning and its co-hosts. Who is Kristina Partsinevelos? Set against a post-Trump identity crisis and a slump in viewers CNN averages 178,000 viewers in the key 25-to-54 demographic, down 63% from a year ago the reformist spirit comes as the networks net advertising revenue fell 2% last year due to lower ratings, according to S&P Global Market Intelligences Kagan. But now the channel under its newly installed chief executive, Chris Licht is undergoing another rapid change, seeking to row away from some of its well-known anchors political partisanship and back to a more nuts-and-bolts approach to journalism. We are truth-tellers, focused on informing, not alarming our viewers, Licht said in another memo obtained by Axios. Let's not forget that they just took over Time Warner and CNN recently. But that is not going to happen. Still, Lichts remarks reportedly have upset some employees at the network ahead of a highly anticipated CNN town hall on Thursday. In the years since, they have had breakfast once a quarter. During the 2016 electionand even afterZucker was often dismissive of critics who said CNN, more than its cable rivals, gave Trump outsized attention. In an all-staff meeting in November, Mr. Licht said he stood by his earlier remark that there would be no merger-related layoffs, and I absolutely would not have said something that I did not believe to be true. But he said he understood how his remarks had hurt his credibility. He came to WVTM from WBEC where he worked as the sports anchor at 6, 9, and 10 pm. Veteran CBS executive Chris Licht is expected to be named as CNN's next president, according to a person with knowledge of the decision. Chris Licht, the producer who created "Morning Joe," revamped "CBS This Morning" and revitalized "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," has been selected to run CNN once Discovery merges with . Who is Maggie Vespa? But prior to then he had a distinguished career in journalism, working as a correspondent for CBS News and an anchor for ABC News, where he famously landed a rare interview with Osama Bin Laden in 1998. [29][30] Joe Biden, the then vice-president and a survivor of an aneurysm himself, cold-called Dr. Vivek Deshmukh, a highly recommended neurosurgeon, to care for Licht. /*