CNN's next turn
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Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios
CNN president Jeff Zucker resigned today — just months before the oldest 24-hour news network is set to launch its huge bet on streaming.
Why it matters: Zucker had been expected to stay at least until CNN parent WarnerMedia merged with Discovery.
- He had been a driving force behind CNN+, the network’s renewed push into streaming.
Catch up quick: After nine years at the helm of CNN, Zucker is out effective immediately after failing to properly disclose a consensual relationship with a longtime senior colleague, Axios’ Sara Fischer reports.
- The company did not respond to a request for comment.
The big picture: Zucker's departure adds to the huge shifts in the media industry as companies try to find their way in a post-Trump, post-COVID and TikTok-driven world.
State of play: Broadcast and cable networks including CBS, Fox, NBC and MSNBC have all made major leadership, programming and product changes over the past year.
- This comes as audience engagement has changed dramatically since the Trump administration and COVID dominated news cycles.
By the numbers: Cable news ratings have been down 36% across prime-time Fox News, CNN and MSNBC, while news app downloads and social media engagement with news have fallen by 33% and 65%, respectively, Axios recently reported.
What they’re saying: “What we’re building at CNN+ is not a side hustle,” CNN chief digital officer Andrew Morse told the New York Times just last week.
What to watch: WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar announced three executives — Michael Bass, head of U.S. programming; Amy Entelis, head of talent and content development; and Ken Jautz, a longtime exec at the company — to co-lead the network in the interim.
Disclosure: Hope King is a former CNN employee.
