Television producer Chris Licht has been fired by CNN, New York Times reported on Wednesday. He was hired by the company in May 2022 to balance out what the network’s new owners thought of as the channel’s liberal bias.
Warner Bros. Discovery became CNN’s new owner in April last year, who turned to Licht to serve as the chairman of CNN. However, his 13-month-long stint at the company turned out to be one full of chaos and controversies.
David Zaslav, the chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery was quoted by New York Times as saying that he had a meeting with Licht and he was leaving the company effective immediately.
“For a number of reasons things didn’t work out, and that’s unfortunate,” Zaslav said. “It’s really unfortunate, and ultimately that’s on me. And I take full responsibility for that,” he further added.
Controversies around Licht’s tenure
Licht got off to a bumpy start when he was asked by CNN’s new owner to shut down the premium CNN+ streaming service, which eventually led the company to sustain massive losses and undertake a layoff campaign.
CNN network’s ratings also took a massive hit during Licht’s reign. Licht was then blamed for committing several managerial blunders, including the decisions to set up a flop morning show co-anchored by Don Lemon and inviting former US President Donald Trump for organising a town hall discussion. The former CNN chairman was also criticised after Nikki Haley appeared on the channel for a separate town hall discussion.
What further rocked Chris Licht’s boat was CNN’s financial performance for the last financial year. CNN’s profits tumbled from $1.25 billion the year before to a mere $750 million last year.
Pressure mounted on Licht when the Atlantic last week published a 15,000-word profile encompassing the tumultuous tenure of former executive producer of Stephen Colbert’s top-rated late-night show.
Who will replace Chris Licht at CNN?
As per a statement given by David Zaslav and reported by New York Times, a group of veteran CNN leaders will take over the interim role of managing the company’s operations. A permanent leader will be installed later on, although the process is expected to take several months to conclude.
The CNN veterans Amy Entelis, Virginia Moseley and Eric Sherling, as well as the newly appointed chief operating officer, David Leavy are expected to be part of the group that will take over Chris Licht’s role at CNN.
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