https://resistthemainstream.org/cnns-replacement-for-jeff-zucker-has-been-named
The man in charge of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”, on CBS, will soon be installed as the head of CNN News, replacing Jeff Zucker.
Chris Licht used to work on “Morning Joe” and “CBS This Morning” and emerged as a top contender for Zucker’s former job. A Saturday report by Puck attributes sources who have spoken directly with Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav for the news that Licht has been tapped by Zaslav to run CNN.
Licht will run CNN news for the merged entity Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), a source familiar with the matter reportedly said. Zucker had also had oversight of sports, in addition to news. Licht’s CBS contract expires in April, the report noted. That timing dovetails nicely with the timing of a Discovery shareholders meeting scheduled for March 11, when his hiring is expected to be announced officially.
After Puck reported news of Zucker’s replacement, CNN posted a story confirming the succession.
CNN’s current owner, AT&T, is spinning off CNN and the rest of WarnerMedia in the second quarter of 2022. Then Warner and Discovery will come together and Discovery CEO David Zaslav will run the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery. When the $43 billion deal closes, each AT&T shareholder will get approximately 0.24 shares of the new WBD common stock, tax-free, for each share of AT&T common stock held as of the record date for the pro rata distribution, according to a company statement.
According to the CNN report, Zaslav has been evaluating replacement candidates to run CNN, sources said, after Zucker was forced out about a month ago.
Zucker quite with short notice February 2 after confessing a consensual relationship with his direct report Allison Gollust. According to CNN, corporate policy requires relationships be disclosed to human resources, a requirement Zucker and Gollust had allegedly not obeyed.