AT&T-Discovery media merger opens door to new Jeff Zucker era

Friends tell me Jeff Zucker may drop his plan to depart at year's end and instead remain head of CNN, as a result of the massive merger of AT&T-Discovery media assets announced Monday morning.

Driving the news: I'm told that nothing has been decided. But absent this tectonic media shift, Zucker — who's chairman, WarnerMedia News and Sports, and president of CNN Worldwide — was gone. Now, the door is open for him to stay.

Why it matters: Zucker is one of the world's most experienced media executives, running a global machine with an unmatched reach and footprint. And CNN.com is the largest news-organization website.

Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who's golfing/Hamptons buddies with Zucker, will run the new company, Axios is told.

• Zucker, 56, relishes his news and sports roles, and runs CNN with a producer's passion and eye for detail. He also could have a political career in his future.

The companies' combined assets will be a stronger competitor for Disney and Netflix in the streaming wars, Axios Sara Fischer writes.

• AT&T and Discovery have both launched general entertainment streaming platforms in the past year — HBO Max and Discovery+.