Jeff Zucker’s leadership helped the network become the dominant name in cable news during Donald Trump’s presidency.
CNN President Jeff Zucker, who helped the media become the dominant name in cable news, plans to leave the media organization later this year.
“This organization has been through a lot. I would like to be here to take us back to a new normal, one that looks much more like it was here before, ”said Zucker in a call on Thursday with CNN producers that was obtained by Variety. “So, with that, I will stay and finish my current contract – which, as I said, will keep me here until the end of this year. At this point, I hope to move on. “
It is not clear who will replace Zucker. A representative for WarnerMedia, the parent company of CNN, did not return a request for comment.
Zucker, who joined CNN in 2013, helped catapult the channel to the top of cable news during Donald Trump’s presidency. CNN broke its audience records in 2020 and surpassed longtime audience leader Fox News in the 25-54 age group in the fourth quarter. The success of the CNN audience continued into the new year: January 2021 was CNN’s most watched month in history, aided in part by pro-Donald Trump media coverage that invaded the United States Capitol on January 6.
CNN was not a rating power when Zucker entered the market. As CNN’s chief media correspondent Brian Stelter wrote on Thursday, the news industry was full of stories about CNN’s “identity crisis” in 2013, when Fox News and MSNBC were the main news channels to cable. The hiring of Zucker led to a reinvention of network coverage and resulted in several new initiatives, such as various city programs and documentaries. Prime time anchors like Chris Cuomo, Don Lemon and Anderson Cooper have become as well-known as Hollywood stars due to their political coverage and commentary, while CNN’s chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta has become one of the most well-known faces in the coronavirus coverage last year.
“I think there was this feeling on CNN that they had to be neutral to the point of being bland, and what I think we instigated as a team was that what you needed to do is tell the truth,” Zucker told Los Angeles Times, who broke the news about Zucker’s decision. “We gave anchors, reporters and producers on our shows the freedom to tell the truth, even though the truth seems difficult at times.”
Although CNN prospered during the 2016 presidential election and the subsequent presidency of Trump, the success of the network under Zucker was not without controversy. CNN received criticism during the 2016 presidential election season for broadcasting a large number of Trump rallies – which were big draws for news channels – without editing or fact-checking. Zucker said it was a mistake to do this in October 2016. Zucker’s relationship with Trump has been complicated; Zucker, who previously served as president of NBC Entertainment, gave the green light to Trump’s “Apprentice” in 2004, which significantly increased the national profile of the eventual president. As CNN’s coverage of Trump strengthened, the media became one of Trump’s main targets in his frequent protests against the media during his presidency.
CNN, which is known for its myriad of commentators, also received criticism for hiring former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski as a political commentator three days after being fired from Trump’s election campaign; Lewandowski resigned several months later. The hiring of Sarah Isgur, who served as a spokesman for former attorney general Jeff Sessions, as political editor for CNN in 2019, sparked similar controversy and her role was quickly changed to political analyst.
Controversies aside, Zucker’s leadership reaped a record audience and financial gains for CNN and it is unclear how his departure will affect the media organization.
Zucker’s departure was expected; The Wall Street Journal reported in October 2020 that the CNN president was considering leaving the network shortly after the 2020 elections, despite his contract running until the end of 2021. The Journal report suggested that Zucker was “taken by surprise” “for restructuring at WarnerMedia, which was acquired by AT&T in 2018 and had” friction “with WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar. Zucker is one of the few WarnerMedia executives who remained at the company after the acquisition of AT&T.
Although CNN entered 2021 as a leader in cable news ratings, the popularity of cable television continues to decline as more consumers migrate to streaming services. WarnerMedia invested significantly in its streaming service HBO Max, launched in May 2020, but the service took a while to gain momentum and industry analysts partially attributed its shortcomings to the huge wave of layoffs from WarnerMedia that was enacted several months ago. The Los Angeles Times reported that Zucker feared that CNN could become a target for cost cuts.
While news programming has not been tested on major streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Disney +, more recent services like NBCUniversal’s Peacock and HBO Max have become involved in the genre; a handful of CNN-branded series and films are available on the latter service. The New York Times report on Zucker’s decision to step down included a note that a CNN-branded streaming service is under development, but no details on that platform have been officially announced.
Zucker is one of several high-profile media executives who announced their intention to step down after the 2020 presidential election. Former MSNBC president Phil Griffin was succeeded by Rashida Jones on February 1, while Washington’s executive editor Post, Marty Baron, and ABC News President James Goldston recently announced their intention to resign later this year.
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