Chris Licht 'Has Lost the Room' at CNN, Anchors Approach His Boss: Insider

CNN CEO and Chairman Chris Licht's tenure at the helm of the news network is looking increasingly under threat, after anchors at the network reportedly approached his boss to express concerns about his leadership.

Licht was hired directly by the Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) management, which took over the channel about a year ago. At the time, the company had embarked on a quest to rebuild trust as a non-partisan channel after years of criticism of the broadcaster by former President Donald Trump and his devoted army of followers. Licht, who had previously worked on MSNBC's Morning Joe and on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, was drafted in to replace Jeff Zucker.

Licht's appointment, however, has done little to quell the hemorrhaging of viewers and reports of low morale and unease among a number of the network's top journalists. His boss, WBD CEO David Zaslav, didn't seem worried about the drop in viewership figures in March, telling CNN managers in a pep talk: "Ratings be damned. Let's focus on who we are. This is our mission. This is our legacy. And this is our journey together."

Ongoing concerns were exacerbated by the publishing on Friday of a 15,000-word profile in The Atlantic on Licht that detailed his missteps at CNN. Much space was devoted to CNN's controversial decision to host Trump's New Hampshire town hall, which was broadcast on May 10—one day after the one-term president was found liable by a New York jury of sexual assaulting E. Jean Carroll.

Licht reportedly apologized to staffers for the behind-the-scenes brouhaha in an editorial call on Monday, vowing to "fight like hell" to win back the trust of an apparently exasperated team at CNN.

"I know these past few days have been very hard for this group," he said, per The New York Times, "and I fully recognize that this news cycle and my role in it overshadowed the incredible week of reporting that we just had, and distracted from the work of every single journalist in this organization. And for that, I am sorry."

According to CNN's senior media reporter, Oliver Darcy, Licht's moment of attrition may prove to be a case of too little, too late. In his latest Reliable Sources newsletter, Darcy stated that Licht had "lost the room" among CNN's journalists. He described Licht as having "alienated much of the employee base and squandered the good will he had when he took helm of the network."

Following the publication of The Atlantic's Licht profile, for which reporter Tim Alberta was granted months of unfettered access, Darcy wrote that he spoke with "dozens of staffers" among CNN's 3,500-strong team. "There are a wide range of emotions coursing through the halls of CNN," he said. "Some staffers are frustrated. Others are angry. Many are sad about the awful state of affairs that has taken hold of an organization they love."

These grumbles have now reached the top of the corporate pile, with Darcy reporting that "top anchors and correspondents" have directly contacted David Leavy, CNN's newly appointed chief operating officer, to express their concerns about Licht's leadership. With Leavy described as a "trusted lieutenant" of Zaslav, his new role is seen as a sign of the WBD boss' awareness of the "dire state of affairs" at CNN.

Darcy has portrayed Zaslav as holding something of a forced hand, writing that the several media executives he has recently spoken with "have all said that it is hard to see how Zaslav doesn't do something" about the ongoing issues.

According to Darcy, Leavy "is counseling Licht and CNN leadership's primary goal is to stabilize the ship. Licht spent much of Monday having one-on-one conversations with top talent and executives. Beyond repairing relationships with staff, the hope is to get Licht out of the news and to refocus the attention on CNN's newsroom."

Newsweek has contacted representatives of CNN via email for comment.

CNN's decision to broadcast 2024 presidential hopeful Trump's town hall last month was criticized by a number of media personalities, including Darcy.

The network had defended its decision, saying that it was its duty to ask the former president "tough questions."

"President Trump is the Republican frontrunner, and our job despite his unique circumstances is to do what we do best. Ask tough questions, follow up, and hold him accountable to give voters the information they need to sort through their choices. That is our role and our responsibility," CNN told Newsweek in a statement ahead of the event.

The morning after the town hall, Licht defended the broadcast during an call to editorial staff, saying: "I absolutely, unequivocally believe America was served very well by what we did last night," according to multiple reports.

However, the decision spectacularly backfired in the immediate aftermath. CNN's primetime viewership figures continued to drop, falling below those of right-wing channel Newsmax days later.

The town hall itself attracted more than 3 million viewers. However, just two days later, CNN had an average total of 335,000 viewers between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m., against Newsmax's 357,000, according to data shared by Mediaite. That means CNN fell to fourth place in prime-time ratings for news channels, also trailing Fox News and MSNBC, which averaged a total of 1.44 million and 1.08 million viewers, respectively, during the same time slot.

The drop in primetime viewership could signal that the outrage at CNN for the town hall attended by Trump drove viewers away from the network. On May 9, the day before the town hall, CNN had 589,000 viewers between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. On May 2, a week earlier, the figure stood at 539,000.

Commenting on the ratings in a statement to Newsweek, a CNN spokesperson said that the story is more complex than simply looking at CNN's numbers.

"Fox News viewership is down double-digits as their viewers jump to Newsmax. In the key P25-54 demo (viewers aged 25 to 54), CNN is up versus the previous four Fridays, while both Fox and MSNBC were down," a statement read.

The town hall, hosted by CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins, was Trump's first appearance on the news channel after the relationship between the former president and the broadcaster soured during his time in office. The town hall was strongly opposed by critics on the left of the political spectrum, who accused CNN of offering Trump a primetime platform to spread false claims about the 2020 election.