CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker told staff members on Thursday that he will oversee the liberal network for the rest of the year, but according to the New York Times, he expects to continue when his contract expires at the end of 2021.
“I can not imagine not being here now,” Zucker was quoted as saying on a morning call by staff members, quoting a CNN employee.
“I’m going to stay and complete my current contract, which, as I said, will keep me here until the end of this year. At that point, I expect to continue.”
CNN EXEC EXECUTIVE TO BRIAN STELTER: DISCUSS MORE CONSERVATIVES ON YOUR SHOW
CCNN Global President Jeff Zucker told staff on Thursday that he will oversee the liberal network for the rest of the year. (REUTERS / Lucas Jackson)
While The New York Times accepts Zucker’s comments as proof that he will leave the hyperparty network by the end of the year, the Los Angeles Times reports that “Zucker currently has no plans beyond 2021.”
CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CNN’s in-house media expert Brian Stelter published a report on his boss, but did not indicate that Zucker would absolutely walk away by the end of the year.
CNN, ALISYN CAMEROTA CHANGES TUNE OR IT’S OK TO REFER TO VIRUS BY ORIGIN NATION: ‘HANDY SHORTHAND’
“The truth is, I basically decided in November and December that now was the time to move on,” Zucker said, according to Stelter.
“But since then I’ve changed my heart. And I want to stay. Not forever, but another year. And I feel really good about this decision.”
CNN famously moved from a barefoot, just the facts news organization to a left-wing network during Zucker’s seven-year term. Zucker achieved early success by emphasizing original programs such as ‘Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown’ and documentary miniseries such as ‘The Sixties’, but the network mostly focused on politics once Donald Trump burst onto the political scene.
Zucker, who began his career at NBC, has risen from researcher to president and CEO of NBC Universal. Along the way, he was responsible for magnifying Trump’s fame when he made ‘The Apprentice’ green.
Zucker is now chairman of WarnerMedia News and Sports, which controls both CNN and its parent company’s sports businesses.
TRUMP ONLADING ON ‘NO CREDIBILITY’ CNN: ‘Maybe they need to make changes’
Zucker’s relationship with Trump was transferred from NBC to CNN, as the network announced Trump’s rallies (which often show an empty podium to tease future events) early in Trump’s 2016 campaign. But eventually the network turned on Trump and he has been arguing with Zucker ever since.
Trump frequently mocked Zucker’s network and often accused CNN of unfair coverage. Zucker, in turn, loaded CNN’s series with anti-Trump opinion hosts, while former White House correspondent Jim Acosta regularly quarreled with Trump’s spokesmen.
Zucker made headlines in 2019 when Project Veritas published what a former CNN employee said was a recording of Zucker urging staff members to focus exclusively on Trump’s first accusation, even at the expense of other important news. The whistleblower said the recording essentially proved CNN’s anti-Trump bias.
CNN’S STANDER COMPARES AMERICANS ‘RADICALLIZED’ BY REMEDIES WITH ISIS MEMBERS
CNN was acquired by AT&T in 2018, and rumors have it that Zucker, who is very popular among the network’s liberal staff, may not work for long.
Trump even said at a press conference in 2019 that “we would be much bigger if we did not have the CNNs of the world who are corrupt people.”
CNN saw an increase in ratings during the 2020 presidential election, but has seen a dramatic decline since the inauguration day. According to Nielsen Media Research, during the inauguration of President Joe Biden, CNN reduced double digits during the first and overall day, compared to the period from election day to the inauguration. The ratings of the network dropped almost 23 percent in the total day viewers and decreased by 30 percent in the main demo of adults aged 25-54 years.
During the first week of the Biden administration, CNN dropped to third place for the first time, gaining an overall position behind Fox News and MSNBC.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP
In 2020, Project Veritas announced that it had secretly recorded the CNN conference calls during the span of two months. In several released excerpts that have been released, Zucker has been heard sounding anti-Trump. During a conference call on October 9, he urged his staff not to “normalize” the president’s “erratic” behavior as he recovers from the coronavirus, suggesting that the president’s medical treatment has affected his actions. .
According to surveys by Project Veritas, Zucker also ordered top buyers not to report on a New York Post story pre-election on Hunter Biden’s business deals.
Insiders in the industry have long assumed that Zucker would move on once Trump was out of office, but he will now remain for the rest of the year. It remains to be seen whether the network will return to the impartial approach of founder Ted Turner once Zucker goes out.
Fox A.’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.