CEO Chris Licht apologized to CNN staffers during the network’s 9 a.m. editorial call on Monday after the Atlantic ran a devastating profile of the chief executive on Friday. “I know these past few days have been very hard for this group. I fully recognize that this news cycle and my role in it overshadowed the incredible week of reporting that we just had, and distracted from the work of every single journalist in this org. And for that, I am sorry,” Licht said, according to a Twitter thread by the network’s former chief media correspondent Brian Stelter.
The Department of Justice has opened a criminal hacking probe into how behind-the-scenes footage of fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson was leaked to media organizations in recent months, according to a letter the federal agency sent the cable network that said that Justice “presently views Fox Corp. as one of the potential victim-witnesses of the alleged criminal conduct under investigation.”
It’s been more than a year since he was forced from the top job at the network. Since then, he has made no secret of his frustrations with his exit — or his low regard for the man who replaced him, Chris Licht.
CEO Chris Licht felt he was on a mission to restore the network’s reputation for serious journalism. How did it all go wrong?
Fox News Channel’s primetime viewing, with Tucker Carlson’s departure, took took a big hit in May: down 32% to 1.42 million Nielsen average viewers versus April’s results (2.07 million). Still, the Fox Corp.-owned channel maintained the highest ratings among all cable news networks.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ rage against CNN and MSNBC — along with former President Trump’s polling lead and distrust of Fox News — has created a deadlock over who will host the rest of the 2024 GOP presidential debates, and uncertainty over whether they’ll happen at all. Debates can make or break a presidential candidacy. And who hosts those debates can have a significant impact on which contenders chose to participate, and how they perform.
Exclusives
The cable news channel is also moving Trey Gowdy’s weekly program to 9 p.m. on Sundays.
David Leavy, a top executive at Warner Bros. Discovery, as been named COO of CNN Worldwide. Leavy will oversee commercial, operational and promotional activities across the network. The move is effective on June 20. Leavy currently is chief corporate affairs officer for Warner Bros. Discovery, and will maintain public policy and social responsibility oversight on behalf of Warner Bros. Discovery. He has been with Discovery for 23 years.
Top-ranked Fox News and third-place CNN saw substantial year-over-year audiences losses, while MSNBC gained viewers from 2022. All three networks shed viewers from April.
Kennedy, hosted by Lisa Kennedy Montgomery, will air for the last time June 1 on Fox Business Network, with reruns of the Larry Kudlow show Kudlow moving into the 7 p.m. ET slot Monday through Thursday starting June 5.
The network is trying to protect a source who disclosed details of an FBI probe into a Chinese American scientist. That scientist, Yanping Chen, is suing the FBI for damages, claiming that the leaked information was part of a campaign to damage her after federal prosecutors ended their six-year investigation of her without bringing charges. Chen also subpoenaed Fox and Catherine Herridge (pictured), now of CBS — to force her to disclose the source of several 2017 stories.
Bret Baier, chief political anchor at Fox News Channel, will moderate the third installment of The Senate Project series, which features senators from different ends of the political spectrum debating key issues. Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) are featured. It takes place Monday, June 12, at 11 a.m. ET at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in Boston. The event will run live, commercial-free on Fox Nation and will air on Fox News Channel Sunday, June 18, at 10 p.m. ET.
Fox’s handling of the defamation suit brought by Dominion Voting Systems, which settled for $787.5 million, left many unanswered questions.
The former White House press secretary made his first appearance on the upstart cable news network Thursday, appearing on its recently launched political table talk show The Hill to discuss Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s entrance into the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
CNN will shift the bulk of its operations behind its Spanish-language efforts to Mexico City, scaling back production of content for linear television in favor of work aimed at reaching a younger audience that favors mobile video. The move is likely to mean the elimination of jobs in Miami and Atlanta, but will also result in a ramp-up of jobs in Mexico and Los Angeles, where CNN will aim to add more than staffers, according to a person familiar with the plans, which were disclosed to employees Thursday afternoon.
Mike Pence is be next in line to conduct a Republican presidential primary town hall on CNN, with chief political corespondent Dana Bash as moderator, following in the footsteps of his former boss Donald Trump and new rival Nikki Haley.
Jake Tapper will be the moderator this go around, and the town hall will take place on Sunday, June 4, at 8 p.m. ET, with a live audience from Iowa.
The News Isn’t Good For Cable Outlets
The number of cable subscribers, dropping for years, just took a record-breaking plunge. Sooner or later, it will hurt news channels’ bottom line.
CNN Needs A New Chief. Here’s The Ideal Candidate
Christiane Amanpour, CNN’s chief foreign correspondent — or someone equally well-versed in the purpose and value of journalism, a real reporter — should be at the top of an organization dedicated to journalism. If we want better journalism, we need respected journalists to run important outlets.
She joins co-host Adrienne Bankert as the morning show expands to four hours.
Phil Nelson will lead CNN Worldwide’s international business operations and its work with commercial partners outside of the U.S. Nelson previously was COO of CNN International Commercial (CNNIC) from 2019. In the new position of executive VP, CNNIC, he is now responsible for all international advertising sales, content sales and licensing and commercial distribution revenue, as well as related client solutions functions including the Create brand studio and digital and data operations.
Fox News said that it is considering changes to its primetime lineup following the exit of Tucker Carlson, but it suggested that a report that Sean Hannity would fill the slot was premature. “No decision has been made on a new primetime line-up and there are multiple scenarios under consideration,” a network spokesperson said. The statement came after Drudge Report blared out a main headline that Hannity was being prepared to take over the time slot, with Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld also being prepared for primetime slots. Where that leaves Laura Ingraham’s show, which airs at 10 p.m., is unclear.
Collins will begin regularly hosting the 9 p.m. Eastern show next month, the network said Wednesday, making the announcement during a Warner Discovery sales presentation to advertisers. The ex-White House correspondent moderated CNN’s town hall with former President Donald Trump last week, but was generally held blameless for criticism the event received.
CNN shrugged off and even scolded critics of the Donald Trump town hall it aired on May 10. But while the network is still obstinately standing by that event, viewers, it turns out, aren’t standing by the network. The town hall initially gave CNN a rare primetime win, with 3.3 million viewers tuning in, firmly making it number one in ratings among the other cable news networks. But just two days later, primetime viewership cratered, putting CNN in fourth place behind shoestring-budgeted right-wing outlet Newsmax.
MTV News bridged a gap between news and pop culture without talking down to its young audience. As it prepares to shut down, Kurt Loder, Tabitha Soren, Sway Calloway and others reflect on its legacy.
CNN last Wednesday broadcast one of the most controversial news events of the year, a runaway town hall interview with former President Donald Trump, and advertisers like Subaru and Fidelity Investments went along for the ride. There are new questions about whether all of Madison Avenue will do so in the future.
President Trump got more aggressive — and more dismissive of moderator Kaitlan Collins — as last week’s CNN town hall continued. Now we know one reason why: Backstage during the first commercial break, Trump adviser Jason Miller — as if psyching up a boxer in his corner or egging on a bully — showed Trump moments-old tweets from Democrats blasting CNN and saying Trump was winning. Trump, who had been getting miffed at Collins’ persistent questioning, went out all pumped up for the second block.
A furious backlash raised questions about the future of chief executive Chris Licht and the larger challenges facing the news media going into the 2024 election.
The suit, brought by a specialist in Russian disinformation, cites parallels with the recently settled Dominion Voting Systems case against Fox.
