But, have I mentioned lately that He is an asshole? The LA Times broke the story this morning that Zucker, who had been assumed to be leaving CNN around now, with speculation he might run for Mayor of NYC, is going to stay on at least another year (link and extended excerpt below).
I dislike Zucker, but agreed at the outset of his tenure at CNN in 2012 with his intended approach: strengthen the news capacity and segments, replace weak pretend news segments with stronger feature programming, which makes CNN more like a newspaper. Zucker has made CNN more successful, though aside from dipping in to compare to broadcast and MSNBC coverage of big and breaking stories, I still find CNN distinctly unwatchable. I also almost never go to CNN online, as I find it irritating how aggressively they push the reader to video. I will leave it to those who watch regularly to judge whether he has actually made CNN better. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-02-04/cnn-chief-jeff-zucker-will-stay-with-the-network-through-2021 “...While overseeing CNN, the channel has experienced its largest profits in history, topping $1 billion annually over the last few years. He expanded the network’s business, investing in the production of original series and nonfiction films and building a library of durable programming that can attract audiences during lulls in the news cycle. CNN’s digital platform is also the most popular source of news online according to Comscore statistics. “CNN has a lot more confidence,” Zucker said. “We used to get bullied. We are not bullied by anybody now.” Zucker’s career has complicated ties to President Trump <https://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-cnn-jeff-zucker-20190528-story.html>, especially during his CNN tenure. Zucker scored his biggest hit in his years at NBC with Trump as the host of his reality competition series “The Apprentice,” which gave the real estate mogul massive media exposure that helped launch his political career. Once Trump declared his candidacy for president in 2015, Zucker, like other news executives, recognized that the provocateur was a big draw for viewers. Trump’s rallies and interviews generated ratings spikes, which led to more airtime. Zucker later acknowledged that CNN gave too much exposure to his campaign events.... While CNN has long positioned itself as a down-the-middle purveyor of news and information, Zucker gave his anchors and hosts the freedom to speak more frankly when dealing with Trump’s unorthodox, bizarre and legally dubious actions as president....” -- Sent from Gmail Mobile -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYLpx4ZyNi4ZbpsTCybWFoN1XUR-hi67XwbXUOGC2OdK1w%40mail.gmail.com.
