QWho does not remember the images of the night explosions in Baghdad in 2003, the live disintegration of the Challenger shuttle in 1986, the collapse of the World Trade Center towers in 2001? They will remain associated with the rise of CNN, the channel that revolutionized television news by inventing continuous, twenty-four-hour newscasts. Created in 1980 by Ted Turner, it symbolized a new image journalism and American hegemony in this field. Today, the American audiovisual jewel has become a ball and chain. On Wednesday 7 June, the chain announced the farewell of its boss, Chris Licht, who remained at the head of the company for just thirteen months.
He leaves in a poisonous atmosphere, hated by journalists and avoided by viewers. Eager to refocus the channel politically and achieve a media coup, he gave exceptional exposure to his worst enemy, Donald Trump, by inviting him to a debate on May 10. For an hour and in front of an audience of fans, the latter piled up falsehoods and insulted the host of the debate, Kaitlan Collins. An episode that didn’t cause any shock among the audience and that pissed off all the journalists on the channel. David Zaslav, the head of Warner Discovery, the parent company of CNN, has resigned himself to bringing out the man he called in May 2022.
strategic issues
For him, CNN is now 5% of the revenues of his group, born from Discovery’s acquisition of Warner Media in April 2022, and 80% of its problems. Because Chris Licht’s troubles with his company are only the outward sign of deeper degradation. When, boosted by the 2020 presidential campaign, the channel averaged 1.7 million viewers during its prime time, it drew just 687,000 in 2022 compared to rival Fox News’ 2.2 million and 1.1 million from CNBC (Nielsen data). In the first quarter of this year, the audience dropped further.
The chain has two strategic problems. On the one hand it seeks a political positioning. After being accused of being a leftist by Donald Trump supporters, she has tried under pressure from her shareholders to refocus. But are there still enough viewers who want it? CNBC’s Democratic anchor ensures its success, as does Fox News’ Republican anchor.
Instead, it suffers from the disaffection of pay-cable channels by an audience that massively turns to online television such as Netflix. The news niche, like that of sports, hasn’t changed yet, but it should. Enough to undermine the morale of an editorial staff tossed by team changes. The era of fiery, direct and flamboyant relationships seems long gone.
