Who is Chris Licht? See why is he in the news

CNN CEO and Chairman Chris Licht has quit after one year of tumultuous and controversial tenure.

In a meeting with CNN employees, David Zaslav, chief executive of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery made the announcement.

Praising the outgoing chief of the channel, Zaslav said that his job was not easy. He also praised Licht for his amazing career, and owned the responsibility for things not working out.


Licht’s ouster came in the wake of a story published in ‘The Atlantic’. The story was written after talking to more than a hundred CNN employees and it questioned his ability to lead the organization in the future.

Earlier, Licht sacked hundreds of employees and fired two popular and important anchors. The channel’s profits fell drastically, its ratings were at a historically low level and the employees morale suffered.

Earlier, Licht produced MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ before revamping ‘CBS Sunday Morning’. He led Colbert’s program, which became the most successful and highest-rated late-night show. But he failed to create this magic for CNN and floundered immediately after joining it. He axed CNN+, which was once hailed as the future program of the channel.

Licht launched ‘CNN This Morning’, but failed to grow it as planned, did not get good ratings and the show was reduced to the level of a television tabloid.

He was also criticized for mishandling the town hall program with former President Donald Trump. CNN’s iconic anchor Christiane Amanpour also expressed her dissent and criticized the CNN chief.

FAQs:

What is the parent company of CNN?
Warner Bros. Discovery is the parent company of CNN.

Who is Warner Bros. Discovery’s chief executive?
David Zaslav is the chief executive of parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.