CNN to Cut Costs, Lay Off Staff by Year’s End: ‘These Changes Will Not Be Easy’

[The Media Observer]

Personally, I think too much is being made about CNN's supposed "turn to the right" since Licht came aboard. I still think it's moderate compared to FNC and MSNBC-- for better or worse, mind you.

If I had to break it down (as far as cable news), I watch CNN between 6-8 hours a week. Next would be MSNBC about 4 hours (per week), followed by Fox News Sunday twice a month.

My prominent source for news though is still the newspaper. One can never go wrong with that.

 

[seatownmedia]

By “newspaper” do you mean print or web? Print is mostly dead and can’t compete with breaking news. However it still works for longer topics. Every year brings lower print consumption. Has been this way for decades. I had a paper route as a teen in North Seattle in the mid 70’s. About three out of four homes got delivery. Barely exists today.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

By “newspaper” do you mean print or web? Print is mostly dead and can’t compete with breaking news.

Not being able to compete on breaking news is often a good thing. Breaking news stories are, by definition, incomplete.

Because the paper only prints once a day, and now-a-days less than that, that allows time for the story to develop and for the paper to tell more of the story.

Now, in the case of something life threatening like the train derailment west of Pittsburgh this week, a newspaper ain't gonna do the job. But those sorts of breaking stories are quite rare. Far common are outlets trying to push the idea that something that was scheduled is somehow "breaking news" because it has actually happened. "BREAKING: Biden delivering State of the Union Address"

 

[seatownmedia]

Agreed. Something scheduled is never “breaking”, unless something out of the ordinary occurs. The term is overused and not appropriate for scheduled events. Journalism 101.

 

[Mikey Radio]

Far common are outlets trying to push the idea that something that was scheduled is somehow "breaking news" because it has actually happened. "BREAKING: Biden delivering State of the Union Address"

I recall when, after 9/11 or one of the larger news events, one of the major 24/7 news networks added the crawler at the bottom of the screen so they could air wall to wall coverage of the disaster, while viewers could read the crawler at the bottom to keep up on other stories. They also added a "Breaking News" header at the top, with red, yellow and perhaps other colors to indicate how important those items were. One of those networks took some public shaming for posting something akin to: "BREAKING NEWS: Titanic sunk 103 years ago on this date". That just illustrated how silly it was all becoming - and it was making people numb to that term, so when there was actually a big "breaking news" event, some viewers wouldn't take it seriously anymore. It was the modern day equivalent of crying wolf.

 

[seatownmedia]

I agree. As I posted earlier this tag of breaking news is usually used to just hep up the audience regardless of what is actually happening. As in ”breaking news” exposes simple and unimportant news stories. I understand why but from a journalist standpoint the stories usually have little or no importance.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

CNN’s Chris Licht Reportedly Wants Charles Barkley In His Primetime Lineup

‘Inside the NBA’ star would interview newsmakers

www.nexttv.com

CNN is considering moving Charles Barkley from TNT Sports to CNN.

CNN CEO Chris LIcht, looking to boost a low-scoring primetime lineup, is reportedly trying to get NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley to do a primetime show on the news network.


Barkley has built a career as an outspoken, award-winning commentator on TNT’s Inside the NBA. TNT and CNN are both owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.

According to Puck News, Licht is in negotiations to get Barkley to do a news-oriented primetime show. In the show, Barkley would interview newsmakers, journalists and other guests about the topics of the day.

“The conceit is that a genuine, outspoken, often humorous figure like Barkley might be a bigger draw than the traditional self-serious newsman, and might be better suited to ask guests the kinds of questions that average Americans actually care about,” Puck’s Dylan Byers wrote.

 

[Don CT]

CNN’s Chris Licht Reportedly Wants Charles Barkley In His Primetime Lineup

‘Inside the NBA’ star would interview newsmakers

www.nexttv.com

CNN is considering moving Charles Barkley from TNT Sports to CNN.

Barkley has said he wants to retire soon and might not fulfill his contract with TNT. Would he even want a CNN show. I guess if the money was right.

 

[TheBigA]

CNN CEO Chris Licht has been fired:

Chris Licht out at CNN after tumultuous run as CEO

The executive swept into the top job with ambitious plans to remake the cable news giant. But he came under scrutiny as ratings dropped and criticism of his strategic decisions reached a fever pitch.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[Theater of My Mind]

Oct 26, 2022:
The Discovery mess is shaping up to be the worst media takeover debacle in history.

Jan 29, 2023:
Cost cutting and mismanagement reaping the inevitable results.

[CNN Just Suffered Its Worst Ratings Week in 9 Years[/URL]

Jun 7, 2023;
So Licht becomes the fall guy but meanwhile, the destruction of HBO -- I mean, Discovery+, or is it MAX? -- continues while David Zaslav remains the most overpaid CEO in the nation.

Apple's Cook and Amazon’s Jassy are among the most overpaid CEOs, study finds, but a media boss bested them with $232 million in ‘excess’ pay | Fortune

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav was the most overpaid CEO, with the largest "excess pay" component, according to analysis by a shareholder advocacy.

fortune.com

 

[TheBigA]

So Licht becomes the fall guy but meanwhile, the destruction of HBO -- I mean, Discovery+, or is it MAX? -- continues while David Zaslav remains the most overpaid CEO in the nation.

People get worked up about CEO money as though it's the same thing as a salary & benefits. It's not. They get a package that's "worth" a certain about, with various targets they have to hit in order to collect the money. Very similar to athlete salaries, hitting certain performance targets. So Zaslav got a bunch of stock when he merged Discovery with Warner. Some of that was AT&T stock, because AT&T owned Warner. So his package may have been worth a lot, but AT&T stock has been in trouble for a while.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

People get worked up about CEO money as though it's the same thing as a salary & benefits. It's not. They get a package that's "worth" a certain about, with various targets they have to hit in order to collect the money. Very similar to athlete salaries, hitting certain performance targets. So Zaslav got a bunch of stock when he merged Discovery with Warner. Some of that was AT&T stock, because AT&T owned Warner. So his package may have been worth a lot, but AT&T stock has been in trouble for a while.

Why am I not surprised you're the one to defend this guy? Even the major financial publications won't do that.

 

[TheBigA]

Why am I not surprised you're the one to defend this guy? Even the major financial publications won't do that.

Explaining how he gets paid is not defending him. Try to understand the difference.

The problem with HBO is the business model changed. They used to simply take commercial movies and put them on TV. Now they're in the original content business. They had a hit this year with Succession, but that one hit isn't enough to get people to subscribe. They're fighting the same streaming battle that Disney, Paramount, and others are fighting. It's not a unique problem. The content companies are competing with Apple and Amazon. They're in completely different leagues. Plus now their writers are on strike.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

Plus now their writers are on strike.

You mean the creative people who actually come up with the content that puts millions into his bank account, but who he won't pay a fair wage to? Sounds about right.

 

[TheBigA]

You mean the creative people who actually come up with the content that puts millions into his bank account, but who he won't pay a fair wage to? Sounds about right.

It depends on if the content they come up with is a hit or not. Under union rules, they get paid either way. The issue has to do with getting a share of the profits if they write a hit. But who eats the losses if they write a flop?

I hear this from musicians all the time. They get paid under the terms of the union contract regardless of whether the song is a hit. But they also want a share of the profits without taking responsibilities for the flops. Is that fair?

 

[davideduardo]

Why am I not surprised you're the one to defend this guy? Even the major financial publications won't do that.

BigA is not defending the guy. He is simply stating that compensation packages at the CEO level are based on performance goals, and frequently not met.

For example, I had tens of thousands of share options for HBC stock as part of my "deal" but at the time HBC was sold to Gerald Perenchio half of them were "underwater" and of no value.

 

[Larry]

The problem with HBO is the business model changed. They used to simply take commercial movies and put them on TV. Now they're in the original content business.

I think that model changed years ago. HBO got many more subscribers (and probably lost them also) through its original programming such as Sopranos, Sex and the City, The Wire, Six Feet Under, True Blood, Game of Thrones, etc than they have from running theatrical movies in quite a while.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

Warner Bros. Discovery TV Layoffs Begin: Who’s Leaving?

EXCLUSIVE: As Deadline revealed in May, Warner Bros. Discovery is undergoing another round of layoffs in its television business and it’s starting today. The layoffs, which were described by inside…

deadline.com

Here is another round.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

The total amount saved in salaries by throwing all those creative content developers out the door probably adds up to about a week of David Zaslav's obscene pay.

 

[davideduardo]

The total amount saved in salaries by throwing all those creative content developers out the door probably adds up to about a week of David Zaslav's obscene pay.

In most industries and businesses, pay is determined by the availability of qualified people. It is relatively easy to find stock persons to work in a warehouse. It is very had to find successful top management in any field.

A common criticism involves the higher six-figure salaries of managers of NPR stations. What is not taken into account is that such managers are principally fund raisers, and the best ones are rare and the demand is greater than the supply.