But perhaps there is some good news on the horizon, CNN missed its profit targets by $100-$120 million
Paging Mr. Zucker
“When Mr. Kilar succeeded John Stankey atop WarnerMedia earlier this year, he carried out another overhaul in August that took away from Mr. Zucker oversight of CNN’s finances and human resources, as well as communications—an area run by one of Mr. Zucker’s top lieutenants, Allison Gollust. The changes annoyed and surprised Mr. Zucker, the people familiar with the situation said.”
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AT&T closed their $85 billion purchase of Time Warner, which became WarnerMedia, in 2018, following resistance from the Justice Department. Many attributed the delay to President Trump’s feud with Zucker and CNN; the administration denied influencing the case.
AT&T’s stewardship of WarnerMedia has been rocky. The rollout of HBO Max did not meet expectations. In August, WarnerMedia chairman Robert Greenblatt exited after little more than a year on the job. WarnerMedia is tasked with cutting costs by as much as 20 percent, which means there will be turnover across the company. AT&T took on considerable debt in the purchase of WarnerMedia, as well as in their purchase of DirecTV for $48.5 billion in 2014. DirecTV has been rapidly losing subscribers. As of the end of 2019, AT&T had over $150 billion of debt.
AT&T is definitely not in danger of going out of business, but there are big changes on the horizon. While the Wall Street Journal does not present it with absolute certainty, it looks like Jeff Zucker’s time at CNN will wind down after the election.
CNN President Jeff Zucker Faces What Might Be His Last Lap