CNN’s Messy Chris Licht Era Is Over, Now What?

The Town with Matthew Belloni

The Ringer

Society & Culture

4.3 • 847 Ratings

🗓️ 7 June 2023

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Matt is joined by Puck’s Dylan Byers to discuss the details behind Chris Licht’s fallout with CNN, why this happened now, how this reflects on Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zazlov, and what needs to be done to save CNN. For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ click here. Email us your thoughts! [email protected] Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Dylan Byers Producer: Craig Horlbeck and Jessie Lopez Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:01.0	It is Wednesday, June 7th.
1:06.0	Man, this CNN saga.
1:08.0	If you haven't seen today's news, Chris Licked, the CEO of CNN, resigned this morning.
1:13.0	Not all that much of a surprise, although one prominent podcaster predicted recently on this very show that he might have a few weeks or months to write the ship.
1:21.5	I'm looking at myself in the mirror right now.
1:23.8	We know the reasons.
1:24.8	CNN staff found Chris distant and aloof, not as supportive as his predecessor, Jeff Zucker. He hadn't executed very well. In the year and change that he was there, the CNN morning show was a disaster. The Trump Town Hall was a laughing stock. Ratings have collapsed. The primetime shows are sometimes beaten by Newsmax, a fringe right-wing
1:45.0	channel. And then there was the Atlantic magazine profile last week, which had about 10
1:50.3	questionable moments in it for Chris Lick. Maybe don't give a reporter almost a year's worth of access
1:55.8	and invite the reporter to the gym with you at 6 a.m. and say your predecessor, Jeff Zucker, couldn't, quote,
2:01.8	do this shit while you're pumping iron. This all happened against the backdrop of the ongoing
	...

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