26-07-2023, 05:27 PM
(26-07-2023, 12:36 PM)W. Knight Wrote: An interesting article on the Licht/Zucker/Zaslav relations by Variety: Zucker's suspected moves to snatch CNN with Saudi capital, Licht's low popularity within the network, and the possible biases of those who spoke for and against him:
variety.com
Even without all the Zucker/Zaslav drama, this quote sums up best why the overall strategy to move back to the centre was doomed from the start -- if ratings were deemed important.
Quote:“It’s incredibly challenging in the current media environment to be a down-the-middle network,” says Katie Couric, a CNN alum during the network’s early days who also worked with Zucker at “Today” and on her titular syndicated talk show. “As the slices of the pie get smaller and smaller, it’s more important than ever to have an engaged audience that may be more interested in affirmation than information. I think that’s why there’s so much commentary on cable. It would take a truly brilliant programmer to figure out how CNN could once again become a town square with different perspectives on important, complex issues. And even then, I’m not convinced people would even want to watch that in this hyper-partisan world. It’s a huge conundrum.”