A lot is happening at the Cable News Network – CNN… after the departure of Jeff Zucker, the network’s former chief, there’s a new sheriff at CNN, Chris Licht. He comes with a new mandate and a mission to cut costs and take the channel to the top …. where he hopes it belongs however, only time will tell it that hope can become a reality.
Since Licht came on board in May to take over the new role at the network, there’s been slight changes at CNN, but now those changes are visible.
Last month we saw the departure of Brian Stelter, CNN’s star media reporter and host of the Reliable Sources show. Still not clear what led to the firing of Brian from the network. CNN didn’t give reasons why they decided to let go of the host and cancel his show.
Some reliable sources say Stelter’s contract termination was politically motivated and while some say CNN’s parent company Warner Brothers Discovery is bloated with debts. Stelter’s departure is one of many still coming. We going to see several changes and some big names will leave the network.
The parent company is also put some projects on hold while cancelling other shows – the classic example is Killing CNN+, a brand new streaming service for the network just after a month it launched. The company also shelved movie projects Batgirl and layoff staff members at HBOMax in an attempt to bundle some of their programs as part of cost reduction.
Licht’s latest move is canning Don Lemon’s 10 pm prime-time show, due to low ratings. The show struggles to compete with rival shows from other networks such as MSNBC, ABC, CBS and Fox News. We all know that, the prime-time slot is cutthroat… without numbers you can’t last that long. Lemon is moving to a soon-to-be-launched morning show, which means New Day, the current morning show is coming to end this fall.
CNN is also looking for a replacement for the 9 pm slot since the departure of controversial host Chris Cuomo. Cuomo left the show after it was found that he was involved in helping his older brother and former Mayor of New York Andrew Cuomo in his rape allegations.
Untill such time, we have to wait and see who’s next on the CNN’s chopping block led by Licht.
