President Trump wants a very different kind of CNN if the cable news channel\u2019s parent Warner Bros. Discovery changes hands.<\/p>\n
As details emerge on the battle between Netflix and Paramount over control of the historic movie studio and its streaming and TV assets, Trump acknowledged he\u2019s made it clear he wants new ownership and leadership at the network that has been the prime target in his attacks on the mainstream media over the last decade.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the people that have run CNN for the last long period of time are a disgrace,\u201d Trump told reporters Wednesday. \u201cI don\u2019t think they should be entrusted with running CNN any longer. So I think any deal should \u2014 it should be guaranteed and certain that CNN is part of it or sold separately.\u201d<\/p>\n
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed Trump\u2019s sentiment Thursday from her lectern after a testy exchange with CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins. \u201cTheir ratings have declined, and I think the president rightfully believes that network would benefit from new ownership with respect to this deal,\u201d Leavitt said.<\/p>\n
Trump has said he will be \u201cinvolved\u201d in the government\u2018s regulatory review of a WBD deal. Injecting the president\u2019s animus toward CNN \u2014 which goes back to his presidential campaign in 2016 \u2014 into the process has insiders at the network worried that journalistic independence will be sacrificed for the sake of a Warner Bros. Discovery deal.<\/p>\n
CNN declined to comment.<\/p>\n
A Wall Street Journal report said Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison has signaled to Trump administration officials he would make \u201csweeping changes\u201d to CNN if his company took control. (A representative for Ellison declined comment.) <\/p>\n
Ellison has said he would combine CNN\u2019s newsgathering operations with Paramount\u2019s CBS News, where conservative-friendly Bari Weiss has been installed as editor in chief. Such a move would follow the $16-million settlement Paramount reached with Trump<\/a> earlier this year resolving a dispute over a \u201c60 Minutes\u201d interview featuring then-Vice President Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n But Trump said he wants to see a new CNN owner even if Netflix prevails. Netflix\u2019s $72 billion offer does not include CNN or WBD\u2019s other basic cable properties. Paramount has countered with a $78 billion offer.<\/p>\n What Trump desires is more favorable news coverage. But pandering to the White House could have a dubious outcome from a business standpoint for the next CNN owner.<\/p>\n The cable news landscape has evolved over the last decade as the country\u2019s politics have become more polarized and tribal. <\/p>\n The trend helped the conservative-leaning Fox News and progressive MS NOW (formerly MSNBC)<\/a>, both of which have seen their audiences grow over that time even as the number of pay-TV homes has declined dramatically.<\/p>\n CNN has tried to stake out the middle ground, although its aggressive coverage of Trump\u2019s first term created a perception it had moved left, especially as more commentary was added to its prime time programs.<\/p>\n CNN already saw the impact of attempting to bring more right-leaning voices to its program under Chris Licht<\/a>, the executive brought in to run the network in 2022. He was under a mandate from Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav, who publicly said the network needed to appeal more to conservative audiences.<\/p>\n The network experienced an immediate exodus of viewers, putting it in third place behind MS NOW. CNN was generating $1.2 billion in profit earlier in the decade. This year, the figure is expected to be in the range of $675 million.<\/p>\n Jon Klein, a digital entrepreneur and former CNN president, said it would be folly for his former network to blatantly court conservatives again.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not going to convince all those Fox News viewers that suddenly CNN is friendly to them and their way of life,\u201d he said. \u201cThese are much older viewers who don\u2019t change their habits so easily. There has been mistrust that has been fostered over many years.\u201d<\/p>\n Klein noted that even upstart right-wing networks that provide unwavering support of Trump \u2014 Newsmax and OAN \u2014 haven\u2019t made a dent in Fox News\u2019 dominance. MS NOW would be the beneficiary of any rightward shift by CNN, he added.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would accelerate the ratings slide and they become completely irrelevant,\u201d said another former CNN executive who did not want to comment publicly. <\/p>\n Fox News does more than provide largely sympathetic coverage and commentary for Trump. Rupert Murdoch\u2019s network has worked at forging a deep connection with viewers, which has made it the ratings leader since 2002. <\/p>\n The lineup of highly paid Fox News personalities is reliably in sync with the audience\u2019s values and the hot-button issues that keep them tuned in. Viewer loyalty has helped the network attract hundreds of new advertisers in recent years, with some integrating patriotic messages into their marketing efforts.<\/p>\n \u201cFox is an incredibly well-oiled machine,\u201d Klein said.<\/p>\n Klein said CNN and other legacy news organizations are better off focusing on developing an effective digital strategy to insure their future as traditional TV viewing declines, instead of chasing ideological balance.<\/p>\n Attempting to satisfy Trump\u2019s desire for more positive coverage is a slippery slope. While Paramount appointed an ombudsman to CBS News and brought in Weiss<\/a> \u2014 moves aimed at clearing the regulatory path for its merger with Skydance Media \u2014 Trump is still lashing out at coverage he doesn\u2019t like.<\/p>\n After a \u201c60 Minutes\u201d interview with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) aired Dec. 7, in which she was highly critical of Trump, the president said the program is \u201cworse\u201d <\/a>under new ownership.<\/p>\n