This should be the last thing you read about the ouster this past week of CNN’s CEO, Chris Licht.
I won’t tell you I told you so, but I told you so.
Back in February after the first Don Lemon crisis over his Nikki Haley, not in her prime remark, I told you that Licht’s leadership of CNN was in trouble. The casting of his much touted morning show was idiotic and it turned into a tabloid feeding fest. I told you he’d better not have another programming screw-up or he’d be looking for new employment. My exact words were, “One thing is for certain, [he] cannot afford another swing and a miss.”
The Trump town hall Licht masterminded was an unmitigated disaster from every angle imaginable. Truly a huge swing and a miss. But he could have survived that if it wasn’t for a totally unforced error. What ultimately buried Chris Licht was that ill-advised, narcissistic horror show of an article in The Atlantic magazine.
It was an all access, 15,000 word profile of Licht. The articulation of his editorial vision for CNN was shallow and naive. His hubris was boundless. His dissing of his colleagues was squirm-worthy. His obsession with his predecessor revealed mammoth insecurity. And what was up with that segment in the gym with his trainer/guru/interpreter? Talk about bizarre!
But the blame for Licht’s very public flameout needs to be appropriately apportioned.
So, let’s start with the big guy, David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery.
In the email to the CNN staff after the Licht firing, Zas, as he’s known, said “For a number of reasons, things didn’t work and that’s unfortunate and ultimately that’s on me. And I take full responsibility for that.”
Indeed.
Hiring Chris Licht in the first place was a head scratcher. He had never, ever come close to running an operation as vast as CNN. In fact, his successes were puny compared to what Zaslav wanted done at the news network, a total redirection of CNN’s editorial focus and tone. That’s a massive undertaking.
Licht was good at harvesting the low hanging fruit when it came to launching morning shows on cable and on a legacy network, where the bar for success was lower than an ant hill. And in his last iteration, he honchoed a late night talk show.
When Zaslav picked Licht for the job of running CNN, he made zero effort to conduct a wide-ranging search for a successor to Jeff Zucker. It was Licht’s job to lose and I wonder if either of them truly realized how hard a job it would be.
Zaslav seemingly didn’t take into account the loyalty and affection for the staff-stroking Zucker, and how upset the CNN’ers were that he was fired after his affair with a longtime colleague was “revealed.”
And then he further diminished Licht, a guy whose editorial chops were already suspect, by making it seem like Chris was a corporate shill, changing the editorial direction of the network to satisfy conservative board member John Malone.
So, you had a guy taking over for a beloved leader, who didn’t have the experience for the job and who was perceived as corporate’s puppet.
What’s worse, when Licht haughtily arrived at CNN, he pooh-poohed its work and cocooned himself on a remote floor. Textbook on how not to take over a jittery organization that just had its beloved leader ripped from its bosom, and truly believed it was “the most trusted name in news”.
Zaslav severely miscalculated what it would take and who it would take to move CNN from the left to the center. And because Licht had never led an organization with thousands of employees, he thought he could force change because of who he was and not who he needed to be.
Licht needed to win hearts and minds. He needed to build credibility. He needed not to be aloof and arrogant. He desperately needed allies within the on-air talent pool that was recruited, rewarded and pampered by Zucker. At the very least he needed a programming win. Because when the roof caved in, Licht needed something to tout and someone to defend him. Instead, he had people from within CNN privately and publicly throwing bombs at him, with a smoldering Jeff Zucker manning the “grievance switchboard” as the New York Times called it, stoking the embers.
At the end of the day, Zaslav, the guy who said he had Licht’s back, didn’t. CEO’s always have your back, until they don’t. When The Atlantic article hit the fan, there was no one willing to throw him a life preserver and so Licht went under.
What’s next for CNN, David Zaslav and Chris Licht?
For Licht, he’ll be paid out on the rest of his contract, probably another year, plenty of time to plan his comeback. Even though his tenure at CNN was brief and tumultuous, Zaslav, in his statement, said “I have great respect for (Chris), personally and professionally.” That’s gracious and significant and let me tell you, it doesn’t always happen. Zaslav allowed Licht to eventually re-light his career.
For my friends at CNN, some of whom read this blog, here’s what you have to worry about. As bad as it was with the devil you knew, it could get a lot worse with the devil you don’t. You may come to regret what you lobbied for.
If you think the Zaslav/Malone edict of dragging CNN back to the center ended with Licht, you’re wrong. In the months it will take to find someone with the credibility and the adroitness to carry out the mission, big decisions will be deferred. Ratings will continue to sink. Zaslav put his trusted lieutenant, David Leavy, on site as chief operating officer and he’ll be watching everything that goes on.
At some point, Zaslav and Co. could say they don’t need CNN’s diminishing revenue and the agita the network causes them, and chuck it. You’ll know that if he leaves the current management troika in place. In the meantime, Licht’s failed command of CNN could feel like a cruise on the Love Boat.
Here are my final takeaways from the Chris Licht saga. You must be able to know what you don’t know. You’re never as great as you think you are. In order to win you need to cultivate allies. And, most importantly, keep your mouth shut and don’t do interviews until you’ve accomplished something.