Former CNN CEO Chris Licht was spotted during Oscars week seemingly without a care in the world at the San Vicente Bungalows, Hollywood’s starriest private club.
The ousted news exec was seen solo in the corner of the Los Angeles club’s private open air library, texting away on his phone with his feet up.
Maybe Licht’s had the last laugh after all?
The self-proclaimed “most trusted name in news” is fighting an uphill battle to remain relevant two years after Discovery took it over, sources tell us.
Anderson Cooper remains as the network’s only primetime star after CNN axed Chris Cuomo, and moved Don Lemon to mornings — only to then fire him last year under Licht’s watch, before Licht was shown the door.
Insiders at the network today feel talent has become an afterthought, after former New York Times and BBC honcho Mark Thompson took the helm in October, following Licht’s catastrophic 13-month stint as its leader.
In an effort to boost ratings, presumably, CNN oddly invited fired Lemon back to promote his interview with Elon Musk.
Another source told us the network couldn’t hire a top news talent right now, even if they wanted to.
“It doesn’t seem to be a priority and they don’t have the money to find the next big star,” the source said.
We hear Lemon’s former morning show co-anchor, Poppy Harlow, is in limbo at the network since it canceled her ill-fated morning show with Phil Mattingly in February.
The situation is even more bleak for staffers off camera, we hear, with one source telling us, “a lot of staffers are losing their jobs.”
But the network seems to be banking on its lesser known female talent to save primetime by promoting Laura Coates, Abby Phillips and Kaitlan Collins to primetime slots following top performer Cooper.
Thompson attempted to reinforce the company’s commitment to talent in a recent memo while citing Cooper’s podcast as a way forward for the network.
“[I] passionately believe that outstanding and high-profile talent will continue to be a central thread in the CNN story, while recognizing that we have much more to do to find pathways for our top names to multiplatform audiences. Anderson Cooper’s brilliant podcast ‘All There Is’ shows the way,” he wrote.
Still, many insiders believe, “Talent isn’t his thing. It’s all about how to grow digital” — which has left some staffers feeling like news is starting to take a back seat. Sources told us the company is focused more on building more documentaries because it’s a “low risk way of getting viewers.”
“They have very talented producers, but when it comes to news they’re trying to go as straight down the road as possible, so they gain traction from viewers tuning in to get an audience that aren’t looking for Fox or MSNBC. And they’re also trying to supplement with documentaries,” the source said.
Whatever the case, “They’re really contemplating their future, and looking at this year as a pivot year, and nobody knows what the pivot’s going to be,” the source concluded.
A spokesperson for CNN did not comment.
