Chris Licht has fallen a victim of himself, of his isolation on the watchtower of power (disconnected from those who should have made him succeed), and of the swan songs of Trumpism, to which he resorted to reach the summit as a television genius.
Not everything counts for the audience, this is the lesson. His position as executive director of CNN has lasted 13 months, full of controversy since the closure of the streaming service as soon as it was released to the firing of stars.
David Zaslav, head of Warner Bros. Discovery, the company that owns the cable news chain, reported that he had agreed with Licht to leave immediately.
The trigger for this decision can be found in the report that Tim Alberta published last week in The Atlantic. In addition to emphasizing the internal fracture that Licht caused, locked in an office on the 22nd floor in the Hudson Yards complex in Manhattan, a totally different style from his predecessor Jeff Zucker, highly appreciated by journalists and executives, his eagerness to congratulate himself on the The new owners (Warner Bros. Discovery), who wanted a line more to the right, made it seek to steal public from Fox by gilding Donald Trump.
From there arose the idea of ​​setting up an interview with the former president and Republican leader in the face of the 2024 elections, but with an audience on the set. The attendees turned out to be radical Trumpists and this scenario, despite the efforts of moderator Kaitlan Collins, allowed Trump to spread his coup lies, hurl insults (including Collins himself), and threaten under the revelry of the crowd. That was just another rally.
Alberta reflected in his report the chaos that broke out inside the chain and more by detailing how Licht ordered to change the commentary tables after that interview, ruling out the regulars and putting legislators who support the falsehood that Trump won in 2020 .
The shot backfired on him. Although that night it had three million audiences, well above normal, the following days the rating has sunk: the Trumpists do not trust it and regular viewers leave CNN.
And the workers sharpened their claws, not only because of that interview, but also because Licht despised the work they did during the pandemic.
