• Join Puck

    Directly Supporting Authors

    A new economic model in which writers are also partners in the business.

    Personalized Subscriptions

    Customize your settings to receive the newsletters you want from the authors you follow.

    Stay in the Know

    Connect directly with Puck talent through email and exclusive events.

  • What is puck? Newsletters Authors Podcasts Events Gift Puck Careers

Notes on CNN (& That Zucker Story)

I didn’t want to write about ‘that Variety story,’ largely because it mentions me. But it’s all everyone is talking about, so here goes… Plus some news on CNN’s prime time strategy and an update on a former Zucker deputy.

Former CNN president Jeff Zucker, who was unceremoniously removed from his position some 18 months ago.
Former CNN president Jeff Zucker, who was unceremoniously removed from his position some 18 months ago. Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images
Dylan Byers
July 27, 2023

On Tuesday, I received a call from a fellow media reporter who wanted my reaction to a feature story that Tatiana Siegel had just published in Variety about CNN—a topic that, admittedly, has been of great interest to me during the last two years. The story, as it was described to me, posited that former CNN president Jeff Zucker, who as everyone knows had been unceremoniously removed from his position some 18 months ago, had been secretly plotting a double-barreled revenge fantasy.