NEW YORK — CNN’s future leader, Chris Licht, told network employees on Monday that he plans to “double-down on what’s working well and quickly eliminate what’s not.”
Discovery CEO David Zaslav announced that Licht, currently Stephen Colbert’s top producer at CBS, will replace Jeff Zucker as head of CNN, likely in May. That’s when Discovery’s corporate takeover of Warner Media, CNN’s parent company, is expected to be complete.
Prior to guiding Colbert’s “Late Show” to the top of the late-night ratings, Licht ran “CBS This Morning” and helped develop “Morning Joe” on MSNBC with host Joe Scarborough.
“I am a journalist at heart,” Licht wrote in a memo to CNN employees on Monday. “While I have enjoyed every minute at the ‘Late Show,’ I am joining CNN because I feel a genuine pull to return to news at such a critical moment in history.”
Zaslav called Licht a “dynamic and creative producer, an engaging and thoughtful journalist, and a true news person.” News of Licht’s selection spread widely over the weekend before Discovery’s confirmation on Monday.
“I think he’s a perfect fit over there,” Scarborough told The Associated Press in an interview on Monday. “He’s a great combination of a producer who has vision and a no-nonsense guy who gets things done.”
Scarborough also said that Licht is the right person to reemphasize news over opinion at CNN.
That’s been a potential change in direction that has been talked about but not explicitly stated as a goal. The idea gained traction when influential cable executive John Malone, a top stockholder in Discovery, said in an interview in November that he would “like to see CNN evolve back to the kind of journalism it started with.”
CNN anchors have been more freely stating opinions on the air, particularly since the onset of the Trump administration. Opinionated talk is a big part of the business model at Fox News Channel and MSNBC.
Licht has run a show whose host, Colbert, has been blistering in his disdain for former President Donald Trump. But when he was running “Morning Joe,” Scarborough said that while the host and some guests brought on to offer their opinions did so, Licht did not want that from reporters.
“He’s a straight shooter,” he said. “I couldn’t tell you whether Willie Geist and Chris are Republican or Democrat - and they’re both good friends that I worked with for 15 years, with Chris 17 years.”
Zucker was forced out earlier this month, after admitting that he had violated corporate rules by not revealing his romantic relationship with a CNN marketing executive, Allison Gollust. Gollust later exited the company, too.
Licht, who was not made available for an interview, said in the memo he knew that CNN staff wanted to know how the network will change.
“The honest answer is that I don’t know yet,” he said. “David Zaslav has given me one simple directive: To ensure that CNN remains the global leader in NEWS.”
Licht said that he has watched “in awe” at the job CNN is doing in covering the war in Ukraine.
Licht’s wife, Jenny, worked for 10 years at CNN in several roles, including as a supervisory producer for Anderson Cooper’s show. Licht, praised by Zaslav as a “survivor,” wrote a book about recovering from a brain hemorrhage in 2010.
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