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Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav has insisted that CNN is “making real progress” in winning back viewers by including more Republican voices on its shows.
Last month, the network welcomed more than 70 members of the Republican Party to its shows, Zaslav said when discussing the media giant’s disappointing earnings on Thursday.
However, the CEO did not mention the ongoing turmoil around ‘CNN This Morning’ which saw host Don Lemon off the air this week for ‘sexist comments’ claiming that politician Nikki Haley was not ‘at her best’ ‘.
Instead, he championed the network’s rebranded image and “balanced approach” after a year of sweeping changes introduced by him and CNN Chairman Chris Licht.
“We are already seeing a more inclusive range of voices and viewpoints,” Zaslav told analysts on Thursday, reports the New York Post.
CEO David Zaslav insisted that CNN was moving in the “right direction” after interviewing more than 70 Republican candidates last month.
The CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery made no reference to the network’s embattled morning show that saw host Don Lemon, center, embroiled in controversy this week over “sexist” comments.
Lemon has also clashed multiple times with White House correspondent Kaitlan Colins, left, live, with the pair repeatedly talking to each other.
‘As demonstrated last month, when more than 70 Republicans went on the air during their congressional spokesperson process for the first time in a long time, we intend to continue to advance this balanced strategy.
‘We must do it right. Nowhere is this more important, in my opinion, and it’s not going to happen overnight, and I think we’re on the right track,” she added.
His comments appear to be a dig at former boss Jeff Zucker, who has been repeatedly accused of making the network too critical of then-President Trump.
Tensions between the Trump administration and Zucker’s CNN came to a boil when one of their correspondents, Jim Acosta, was barred from the White House after a confrontation with the president.
Zucker previously said he was not “anti-Trump” but “pro-Truth.”
It caused ratings to plummet, with the network losing 90 percent of its viewers between January 2021 and 2022.
Soon after, Zucker was replaced by Chris Licht in February 2022.
Since then, the CNN network has undergone a sweeping overhaul that included the firing of anchor Brina Stelter.
Zaslav publicly endorsed Licht’s direction on Thursday, adding: “The team is focused on building a long-term asset across cable and digital that is worthy of that great global brand.”
Zaslav’s latest comments could be seen as a dig at former network president Jeff Zucker, who came under fire for being so critical of Trump during his presidency. He was replaced by Chris Licht in February of last year.
CNN has undergone a dramatic overhaul in the past 12 months with HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” added to its prime-time lineup on Friday nights.
It comes after CNN recently added a segment of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” to its Friday night primetime lineup.
NBA legend Charles Barkley is also said to have been contacted about a possible hosting gig.
However, much of this progress has been overshadowed by CNN’s beleaguered revamp of its morning show that has failed to resonate with viewers.
Meanwhile, host Don Lemon was said to be upset after finding out that his name would not be put on the show after the bosses cut his primetime show.
The 56-year-old has also been accused of berating his colleague Kaitlan Collins, 30, for allegedly interrupting him on air.
The incident resulted in a fight between the pair, with Lemon ‘yelling’ at Collins on December 8, causing her to run off set in tears.
After that, boss Chris Licht reportedly told him to take a day off to ‘cool off’, but instead blew up on employees after a company newsletter featured a story about his altercation with the correspondent for the White House.
He faced even more bitter headlines this week after making a litany of “sexist” comments in which he claimed that Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley is “not in her prime.”
He missed three days from the show and is now said to be receiving “formal training” as a result of the controversy. She also apologized on Twitter.
The show experienced a 5 percent increase in viewership during his absence, the The New York Post reports.
NBA legend Charles Barkley, pictured, is said to have been contacted about a possible web hosting gig.
Lemon was forced to undergo “formal training” after making sexist comments about 2024 presidential hopeful Nikki Haley, 51, who was past her prime.
Zaslav’s comments came as Warner Bros. Discovery reported that its streaming subscriptions grew by just 1.1 million last quarter, less than Wall Street had expected.
That was despite a list of hot HBO Max debuts including House of the Dragon and The White Lotus season two.
For the quarter ending in December, WBD’s streaming unit, which includes HBO Max and Discovery+, reported an operating loss of $217 million on $2.45 billion in revenue, down from a loss of $728 million a year ago.
Overall, the company missed expectations in results, reporting revenue of $11 billion and losses of $2.1 billion that were mainly due to ongoing restructuring charges from last year’s merger between Warner Bros. and Discovery.
Shares of Warner Bros. Discover fell 1.5% in extended trading on Thursday
Zaslav said that after completing 10 months of restructuring, the media company is now looking to “make the most of” its roster of globally recognized franchises, including Superman, Batman, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.
“I think we have an overwhelming advantage in the marketplace with the IP that we own,” he said, using the industry shorthand for intellectual property.
“To get that advantage, we have to create great content.”
Shares of Warner Bros. Discover fell 1.5% in extended trading on Thursday