CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker told employees on Thursday that he will continue to oversee the liberal network for the rest of the year, but hopes to “move on” when his contract expires in late 2021, according to New York Times.
“I can’t imagine not being here now,” said Zucker in a morning call with employees, according to the Times, who quoted a CNN employee who was on the call.
“I will stay and finish my current contract, which, as I said, will keep me here until the end of this year. At that point, I hope to move on.”
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CCNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker told employees on Thursday that he will continue to oversee the liberal network until the end of the year. (REUTERS / Lucas Jackson)
Although the New York Times considered Zucker’s comment as evidence that he will be leaving the hyperpartisan network later in the year, the Los Angeles Times reported that “Zucker currently has no plans beyond 2021.”
CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CNN internal media analyst Brian Stelter published a report on his boss, but did not indicate that Zucker would leave at the end of the year at all.
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“The truth is that in November and December I basically decided it was time to move on,” said Zucker on the call, according to Stelter.
“But since then, I’ve changed my mind. And I want to stay. Not forever, but for another year. And I feel really good about that decision.”
CNN went from being a simple, fact-based news organization to becoming a left-wing network during Zucker’s seven-year term. Zucker found success early on, placing emphasis on original shows like “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” and documentary miniseries like “The Sixties”, but the network focused mainly on politics when Donald Trump burst onto the political scene.
Zucker, who started his career at NBC, went from researcher to president and CEO of NBC Universal. Along the way, he was responsible for raising Trump’s fame when he gave the green light to “The Apprentice”.
Zucker is now the president of WarnerMedia News and Sports, controlling both CNN and its parent company’s sports properties.
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Zucker’s relationship with Trump was transferred from NBC to CNN, as the famous network broadcast Trump’s rallies (often showing an empty podium to provoke future events) at the start of Trump’s 2016 campaign. But the network ended up calling Trump and he has rivaled Zucker ever since.
Trump regularly scoffed at Zucker’s network and often accused CNN of unfair coverage. In turn, Zucker loaded CNN’s programming with anti-Trump opinion presenters, while former White House correspondent Jim Acosta regularly fought with Trump spokesmen.
Zucker made headlines in 2019 when Project Veritas published what a now former CNN employee said was a recording of Zucker telling employees to focus only on Trump’s first impeachment, even at the expense of other major news. The whistleblower said the recording essentially proved CNN’s anti-Trump bias.
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CNN was acquired by AT&T in 2018, sparking rumors that Zucker, who is well-liked among liberal network employees, may not be long in office.
Trump even said during a 2019 press conference that “we would be much better off when we didn’t have the world’s CNNs, which are corrupt people.”
CNN had an increase in audience during the 2020 presidential election, but has suffered a dramatic drop since the day of inauguration. According to Nielsen Media Research, CNN fell by double digits in prime time and on the total day since President Joe Biden took office, compared to the period of election day until the inauguration. The network’s ratings fell by almost 23% in total viewers during the day and 30% in the main demo for adults aged 25 to 54 years.
During the first week of the Biden government, CNN dropped to third place in prime time, behind Fox News and MSNBC in total viewers.
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In 2020, Project Veritas announced that it was secretly recording CNN’s conference calls over the two-month period. In several released batches of edited clips, Zucker was heard sounding against Trump. During a conference call on October 9, he asked his team not to “normalize” the president’s “erratic” behavior while he recovered from the coronavirus, suggesting that the president’s medical treatment was affecting his actions.
Zucker, according to the Project Veritas recordings, also instructed the upper echelons not to report a pre-election New York Post story involving Hunter Biden’s business.
Industry insiders had long assumed that Zucker would change as soon as Trump stepped down, but now he will remain for the rest of the year. It remains to be seen whether the network will return to founder Ted Turner’s non-partisan approach as soon as Zucker leaves.
Joseph A. Wulfsohn of Fox News contributed to this report.