CNN’s parent company CEO says pandemic is “really good for ratings”

WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, the executive who oversees CNN, stepped in it today. In a keynote speech at a virtual tech conference Thursday, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar told attendees that the coronavirus pandemic is “really good for ratings.”

In a foolish statement, Kilar said, “It turns out the pandemic is a pretty big part of the news cycle and that’s not going away any time soon . . . It turns out it’s really good for ratings.”

After his remarks were reported, the WarnerMedia executive walked them back. “I absolutely should have said it differently. I am sorry. I was attempting to communicate that we as a team wake up each day seeking to deliver more value to fans (through lower prices and/or more great stories). Because that matters to everyone, as it should. I am very sorry.”Follow @CommentaryCNN

CNN’s micromanaging chief executive Jeff Zucker may leave early — and CNN would be better off for it.

CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker’s contract with CNN ends in 2021. But WarnerMedia hasn’t extended Zucker’s contract, and there is talk, the Wall Street Journal reports, that Zucker may bow out before his contract ends.

Zucker joined the network in 2013, and he has been wrecking it ever since. CNN went from a respected news organization to a liberal, Trump-bashing network on his watch and with his encouragement. He has promoted and magnified bloviators like Brian Stelter (who knew media commentary meant he needed to be on for every damn segment, offering some Democratic talking point under the guise of news reporting?), Chris Cuomo, and has overseen Anderson Cooper’s hard turn from the primetime news anchor, to just the kickoff of CNN’s opinion block, airing from 8pm sharp till midnight.

Last Wednesday, Zucker said loves his job, but added, “The industry is changing, our company is changing, so I have a lot to think about. I’ll do that at the right time.” He has said he won’t make a decision until after the election.

When Kilar succeeded John Stankey atop WarnerMedia earlier this year, he carried out another overhaul in August that took away Zucker oversight of CNN’s finances and human resources, as well as communications . . . an area run by one of Zucker’s top people, Allison Gollust. The changes “annoyed and surprised” Zucker, the people familiar with the situation told the Journal.

If Zucker elects to stay at CNN, and if WarnerMedia elects to keep him . . . expect to see CNN veer further away from objective news reporting, and further towards their eight-minute open essays. You know, like the opinion shows on MSNBC and Fox.

They’ve become indistinguishable. But, carry on.Follow @CommentaryCNN

WarnerMedia layoffs coming next week

AT&T’s WarnerMedia is expected to begin employee reductions as early as next week, insiders told the Wall Street Journal. WarnerMedia is the parent of HBO, Warner Bros., and several cable news networks including CNN and HLN.

NBC Universal laid off under 10% of its 35,000 staff.

In June, AT&T laid off thousands of employees, eliminated as part of a $6 billion cost-cutting push. Now, they are turning their eyes to the WarnerMedia division . . . Follow @CommentaryCNN

And there it is: WarnerMedia announces it is selling CNN Center

Surprising no one, WarnerMedia announced it is selling CNN Center, CNN’s longtime headquarters in Atlanta. Whether there will be layoffs was punted on.

“Following the sale of the CNN Center, we plan to centralize most of our employees on the Techwood campus,” Pascal Desroches, the chief financial officer for WarnerMedia, wrote in an internal memo. “This process will take several years, so we don’t expect any immediate changes for employees working at the CNN Center.”

The Techwood campus is also in Atlanta, about two miles from CNN Center.

Sale deliberations were put on hold “until the completion of the merger” between AT&T and Time Warner, Desroches wrote. “Now that we’ve had time to further evaluate, we’ve concluded that the best course of action is to sell the CNN Center.” But “this move in no way should suggest that WarnerMedia is less committed to Atlanta,” he continued. “Similar to Hudson Yards in Manhattan and the announcement of new office space in Los Angeles at Ivy Station, we feel the long-term benefit of being in one location will be a more collaborative workforce.”Follow @CommentaryCNN

Zucker ally: It was a joke — he’s not running for mayor of New York City

CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker made headlines all over when he declared “I always like a challenge,” noting that when New York City recovered from the coronavirus pandemic and the protests surrounding the death of George Floyd, “New York City is going to need a very strong mayor in the aftermath of this.”

It was not, however, the first time the CNN chief had been publicly mulling a run for mayor of New York City. In fact, in 2015, “I would still think about that, yeah,” when asked if he had considered elective office; and when pressed on NYC specifically, he answered, “I would consider anything.”

However, Bloomberg News reports a Zucker ally has a different take on Zucker’s words. Zucker’s remarks “were made in jest,” the individual says, adding, Zucker “doesn’t actually plan to run.”

As things sit currently, Zucker’s CNN contract is set to expire sometime after the 2020 election. And Zucker is a savvy media man: he knows what he is doing when he says these things. So, was it a jest — or another feeler? Follow @CommentaryCNN

Jeff Zucker says, more or less directly, he WILL run for mayor of NYC

CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker, who has been musing about running for mayor of New York City publicly since 2015, said in a New York Times interview on Sunday, more or less quite directly, that he will run for mayor of New York in 2021. Zucker’s contract as chairman of WarnerMedia News and Sports and president of CNN runs through 2020.

Before noting to the NYT he didn’t want his answer to cause news, Zucker said, “New York City is going to need a very strong mayor in the aftermath of this, and I always like a challenge.”

Regarding the earlier report he was considering a mayoral run, a Zucker insider said, “Politics is something [Zucker] thinks about.”Follow @CommentaryCNN

Now WarnerMedia is saying majority of CNN employees will not return to office in 2020

Just a week ago, CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker said that some staffers wouldn’t be returning to the office in September, citing the need to reconfigure officespace “to drastically reduce our footprint in all of our workspaces.”

Very few staffers at the network are expected to return to their offices this calendar year, with just around 15% returning to in-office work by Monday, The Wrap reports, citing WarnerMedia executive vice president and chief HR officer Jim Cummings and CNN president Jeff Zucker’s plan unveiled today.

For the most part, “our operations will remain work from home,” Zucker wrote, noting a few employees would return to work in September.

“When you consider physical distancing requirements, we simply cannot put the same number of people back into our workspaces that were there before the pandemic,” he cautioned. “So we need to make some tough decisions.”

“As I have said before, our operations will primarily, across both news and sports, continue to work remotely throughout the summer. Of course, there are exceptions for some of our newsgathering, programming and production people at CNN; and, on the sports side, there will likely be changes when we have a sense of league schedules in the summer months.”Follow @CommentaryCNN

HLN, CNN International to broadcast live golf The Match: Champions for Charity

Both CNN International as well as HLN (plus TNT, TBS, and TruTV) will air “Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Charity, a blockbuster live golf competition headlined by golf icons Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson returning for a rematch, this time joined by Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, two of the NFL’s greatest players of all time,” according to CNN in an announcement. It will air Sunday, May 24, at 3 p.m. ET.

Associated with the live telecast, WarnerMedia and the golfers will collectively make a charitable donation of $10 million to benefit COVID-19 relief. A sanctioned PGA TOUR event, it will be held at the prestigious Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Florida.

Jeff Zucker, chairman of WarnerMedia news and sports, said in a statement, “The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unimaginable tragedy and heartbreak. We’re hopeful this event and platform will help raise meaningful funding for COVID-19 relief, while also providing a source of brief distraction and entertainment for all sports fans.”

The event commentators will include host Brian Anderson, analysts Trevor Immelman and Charles Barkley, with on-course reporters Amanda Balionis and Justin Thomas.Follow @CommentaryCNN