The Downfall of CNN’s CEO

The Journal.

The Wall Street Journal

Daily News, Business News, News

4.2 • 5.3K Ratings

🗓️ 7 June 2023

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Chris Licht has stepped down as CEO of CNN, ending a short tenure that was marked by a series of missteps. WSJ’s Amol Sharma on what led to Licht’s departure and what is next for the network. Further Reading: - CNN CEO Chris Licht Is Out After Chaotic Year Atop News Network - Top CNN Anchors Criticize CEO Chris Licht’s Leadership Further Listening: - The Quick End to CNN+ - The Shock Exit of CNN’s President Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	We have news now to report involving our own network, news to us here at CNN, and you
0:11.0	at home.
0:12.0	CNN's Chairman and CEO, Chris Lycht, is leaving the network.
0:17.6	Today was an unusual one at CNN, but our colleague, Amal Sharma, the Wall Street Journal's
0:22.8	media editor, wasn't entirely surprised by the news.
0:27.8	Did you see it coming?
0:29.6	In a way, yes, you could see this coming.
0:31.5	It was sort of a slow motion car wreck for the past several months, but it just felt like
0:36.7	maybe he would survive it.
0:38.4	I mean, you did see it coming because you emailed me earlier this week and said we should
0:42.3	do an episode on Chris Lycht.
0:44.2	I did say, you know what, there's a decent chance we're headed in that direction.
0:49.8	The news comes about a year after Lycht took over CNN, and it ends a tenure that was marked
0:55.8	by a number of big controversies.
0:58.8	He had support from the top of CNN's parent company, Warner Brothers Discovery, just days
1:04.8	ago, but things have unraveled quickly.
1:07.4	A series of missteps that he made have just undone him really quickly.
1:11.3	And so people are still inside the network and in the industry just trying to grasp what's
1:15.9	gone on here.
1:20.4	The downfall of Chris Lycht comes at a critical moment for CNN, and it's happening just
1:26.2	18 months before the next presidential election.
1:32.9	Welcome to the journal, our show about money, business, and power.
	...

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