Content Section CNN Needs ‘More Passion,’ Says New Boss Jeff Zucker --- The newly appointed CNN boss says the network must liven up its daily fare. He tells Howard Kurtz the channel can have strong views without being ideological
It was soon after the job of running CNN Worldwide became available that Jeff Zucker got a text message.
Phil
Kent, the president of Turner Broadcasting, told him that since
everyone already believed that they were talking about the job, perhaps
they should get together.
They
did, and continued to meet periodically in New York, even as Kent also
huddled with others on his short list for the high-profile post.
By
the time the company announced Thursday that Zucker had been chosen to
lead the cable network (where I host a weekly media program), the two
men were on the same page about CNN’s future direction and a belief that
more than mere tinkering was needed.
Zucker
said in an interview that CNN programs need “more differentiation” and
“more variety, and I don’t mean that in the entertainment sense.” With
CNN’s ratings rising and falling with the news cycle, Zucker said “the
overriding issue is what do you do beyond the 25 days a year when
there’s major breaking news?
“You
don’t need to be partisan. CNN does need to stick to a nonpartisan
point of view. That doesn’t mean there can’t be more passion and
excitement.”
Passion
and excitement aren’t words ordinarily associated these days with CNN,
which has stuck to a traditional news formula and has fallen far behind
Fox News in the ratings and sometimes behind MSNBC. In turning to the
former chief executive of NBC to succeed the retiring Jim Walton, the
network is acknowledging that it needs a significant overhaul by someone with serious TV news chops.
“I
don’t want to get caught in the trap of thinking that Fox and MSNBC are
our principal competition,” Zucker told me. “That’s way too limiting.
Our competition is also Discovery, the History Channel, anyone that
provides nonfiction programming.”
Kent
emphasized that point in a call with reporters. “We have had shows
about sports, fashion, and technology, and some of that is going to be
revisited,” he said.
“Will it be weird to compete against MSNBC?” he asked. “No. Actually, it’ll be fun. All these guys are my friends.”
Turner executives came to believe that the man who launched the Today
show on a 16-year winning streak, and supervised all NBC News
programming, had the news instincts and experience to revamp CNN.
Whatever mistakes he made at NBC were on the entertainment side, they
concluded, and not relevant to CNN.
Zucker
says he is undaunted at having to take on the cable network he helped
build. “Will it be weird to compete against MSNBC?” he asked. “No.
Actually, it’ll be fun. All these guys are my friends.”
But
he does not underestimate the magnitude of the task at hand. “It would
be a big challenge for anybody,” says Zucker. “I’m not naive about that.
I’ve always thrived on challenges, both personally and professionally.”
Read the full story here.
Read the full story here.
Comments
Post a Comment
Thanks for leaving comments. You are making this discussion richer and more beneficial to everyone. Do not hold back.