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AT&T, Discovery CEOs Grilled About Jeff Zucker’s “Unfortunate” CNN Exit
Hollywood Reporter ^ | 2/4/2022 | Alex Weprin

Posted on 02/04/2022 7:31:11 AM PST by marcusmaximus

Speaking to CNBC Friday morning in separate interviews, John Stankey and David Zaslav push back on claims of John Malone's involvement.

AT&T CEO John Stankey, who currently oversees WarnerMedia and CNN, and Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who will assume oversight of WarnerMedia and CNN in just a few months, on Friday were grilled about former CNN chief Jeff Zucker’s exit.

-snip-

both Stankey and Zaslav were pressed on reporting from multiple outlets that said Discovery board member John Malone — who has been critical of Zucker’s programming strategy at CNN — pressed the company to take action.

“None of us had anything to do with it,” Zaslav said when asked about Malone.

“I am not going to speculate on your theory,” Stankey said. “I have always had a practice of not commenting on personnel decisions, and I’m not going to do that here.”

(Excerpt) Read more at hollywoodreporter.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cnnisfakenews
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Of course John Malone made the call to dump Zucker prior to CNN's sale to Discovery.
1 posted on 02/04/2022 7:31:11 AM PST by marcusmaximus
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To: marcusmaximus

Malone had good reason, not only did he have a wandering dick, but he also was a disaster...CNN is nothing but a propaganda machine.


2 posted on 02/04/2022 7:33:25 AM PST by Candor7 ((Obama Fascism:http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/05/barack_obama_the_qhttps://uintessentia_1.html))
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To: marcusmaximus
AT&T, Discovery CEOs Grilled About Jeff Zucker’s “Unfortunate” CNN Exit...

... and said nothing. Non-story headline news. Desperation.

3 posted on 02/04/2022 7:35:55 AM PST by Steely Tom ([Voter Fraud] == [Civil War])
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To: Candor7; All

Meet John Malone of Liberty Global... the Darth Vader of Wall Street

John Malone, the billionaire set to snap up Formula One, is known in the finance world as the Darth Vader of Wall Street due to his cut-throat antics.

The entrepreneur who built a fortune snapping up different cable television channels in America was born in 1941 in Milford, New England. The son of an engineer, he studied at Yale before starting his career at telecoms giant AT&T.

His first deal was to buy a small cable firm and then, through a series of other ambitious takeovers, amass a £4billion fortune.

He is now the largest private landowner in America with 2.2m acres.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaone/article-3776825/Meet-John-Malone-Liberty-Global-Darth-Vader-Wall-Street-man-wants-slice-Formula-One.html


4 posted on 02/04/2022 7:37:21 AM PST by marcusmaximus
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To: Steely Tom

The MSM + Rat Party wants these CEOs to hire Zucker back, apologize to him, and resign in “disgrace”.


5 posted on 02/04/2022 7:40:26 AM PST by rbg81
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To: marcusmaximus

I worked in the cable biz back in the 1980s. I did not work for Malone’s group, but one of his closer competitors (no one was a “close” competitor.”

But in speaking with my peers and the higher executives in our company...you learned that you did not F with John Malone.

While the TV show succession is supposed to be about the Murdoch family...the lead character could just as easily be Malone.


6 posted on 02/04/2022 7:40:49 AM PST by Vermont Lt
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To: marcusmaximus

Eventually persistently low ratings result in decreased revenue, less profit and even losses. Those that sit on boards or run things at Warner and ATT start getting nervous lest stockholders demand change or sell their holdings. If change for the better does not happen very soon, not only Zucker, but many other well paid people will also be dumped. Brian Skelter is right to be worried. Doubt anyone at Warner or ATT would lose sleep if Lemon decided to leave CNN. He can’t easily be moved without the company being labeled racist, homophobic and very well might have their headquarters ransacked in Atlanta.


7 posted on 02/04/2022 7:40:50 AM PST by allendale
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To: Vermont Lt

Malone tells the CEOs of AT&T and Discovery to go on CNBC and deny his involvement and they do it right away. He’s probably the toughest businessman in America.


8 posted on 02/04/2022 7:43:50 AM PST by marcusmaximus
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To: marcusmaximus

Your implication is that Malone is a bad guy.

He donated to Trump, and thinks CNN needs to become all news, as it once was, where people turned for news. (not politics)

FYI; As incoming decision maker, I’ve read it would be prematurely illegal for him to be calling shots re: Zucker. I assume it is not yet illegal to have an opinion, however.

Perhaps Malone’s voiced involvment could have jeopardized the final negotitations of the sale/merger.

Or, perhaps Trump hating/CNN lovers are dragging Malone into the equation to soil him, hurt a Trump buddy and thus Trump, and spoil the deal so that CNN remains opinion journalism at its worst.

Whatever....interesting goingson.


9 posted on 02/04/2022 7:51:56 AM PST by chiller (Davey Crockett said: "Be sure you're right. Then go ahead'. I'm going ahead.)
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To: chiller

Malone is a good guy. Knows how to fight dirty and keep his hands clean. I’ve followed him since the 80s.


10 posted on 02/04/2022 7:55:40 AM PST by marcusmaximus
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To: marcusmaximus

Either the merger parties could’nt let if be known Malone wanted Zucker out (tampering?), or Malone wouldn’t proceed if Zucker remained in any capacity.

Entertaining high stakes biz....reminds me of fictional Succession or Billions


11 posted on 02/04/2022 7:57:30 AM PST by chiller (Davey Crockett said: "Be sure you're right. Then go ahead'. I'm going ahead.)
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To: marcusmaximus

I hope Malone ransacks CNN into a smoking pile of rubble.


12 posted on 02/04/2022 7:58:36 AM PST by Col Frank Slade
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To: chiller
Picture Jack Nicholson in a Few Good Men on the witness stand as John Malone. Asked the question did he have him removed. Answer, you're damned right I did.

Followed by son do you have any idea the responsibility of a board member involved in a multi billion dollar merger? We have responsibilities far greater than you can imagine. Do you suspect that we would bring on a world class slime ball who has made humongousely bad decisions his whole career.

13 posted on 02/04/2022 8:04:27 AM PST by Mouton (The enemy of the people is the media )
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To: marcusmaximus

The existing ownership of CNN have to clean it up a bit to make it saleable.

That dog has been a drag on earnings, they dearly want to get rid of - even at half of what they paid for it.

It is a fixer-upper, that is going to require some demolition, to start the renovation.

If the deal goes through (requires Government approval), then we would likely see a public re-branding/re-launch, with some fresh faces.


14 posted on 02/04/2022 8:05:39 AM PST by BeauBo
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To: Col Frank Slade

Malone wants CNN to become a news channel again after Its sold to Discovery.


15 posted on 02/04/2022 8:06:44 AM PST by marcusmaximus
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To: Mouton

great analogy.....which would never be permitted this day and age in this political climate.

Few can handle the truth.


16 posted on 02/04/2022 8:23:25 AM PST by chiller (Davey Crockett said: "Be sure you're right. Then go ahead'. I'm going ahead.)
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To: Candor7

They all are...anything with an alphabet is oral ‘rat feces.


17 posted on 02/04/2022 8:26:21 AM PST by RckyRaCoCo (Please Pray For My Brother Ken.)
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To: marcusmaximus

CNN’s job/task is to provide liberal fantasies via Fake News!

CNN’s Fake News, enables Dem viewers to escape the grim realities created by their elite and mentally ill and sick masters.


18 posted on 02/04/2022 8:28:40 AM PST by Grampa Dave (How do you prove fraud, when those that determine fraud, use fraud to cover the fraud?)
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To: Mouton

As it develops... CNN libs are mostly lamenting the loss of their liberal leader Zucker, and even congress peeps on the J6 committee are joining in at the loss of democracy with Zucker’s departure.

It’s being theorized Zucker was providing the cover, direction, and air time to the committee’s work. Without Zucker and CNN they become more irrelevant than they already are.

Afterall, he schemed with Gov. Cuomo’s COVID coverups, so why would he not gloss the J6 committee mission.

Wow, what a pillar of journalism is CNN ! Child molesters (plural), masterbaters, sex offenders, adulterers and liars.


19 posted on 02/04/2022 8:38:44 AM PST by chiller (Davey Crockett said: "Be sure you're right. Then go ahead'. I'm going ahead.)
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To: marcusmaximus
I've long thought that an actual news network could make a fortune simply broadcasting the "breaking news" that local stations all over the country are airing 24 hours a day. It's already done when they flip to a local station's coverage of a high-speed chase, for example, but making live local news the focus -- a crime in progress in New Orleans, a tornado outside Omaha, a fire in Wisconsin, a hostage situation in Little Rock, etc. -- would provide an endless stream of content. All the network would have to do at startup is get the word to local stations to alert them when they have something breaking live, and then pull their coverage off the net, with proper payment to the local station, of course. Spendy, but not nearly as spendy as running a network with hundreds of employees.

It would be news junkie paradise. Actual live news, all the time.

20 posted on 02/04/2022 8:56:20 AM PST by JennysCool ("It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled." - Mark Twain)
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