Already a member? Log In

Will Gayle King Bite on CNN?

Gayle King, the star of CBS Mornings
In recent weeks, CNN C.E.O. Chris Licht has apparently approached Gayle King, the star of CBS Mornings, to pitch her on hosting or co-hosting a weekly show on CNN. Photo: VMAL/Star Max/GC Images
Dylan Byers
January 31, 2023

“What do you think is better about CNN since you arrived?” Chris Licht, who is now nine months into his tenure as CNN’s chairman and C.E.O., was asked in an interview this week with The Los Angeles Times. “Too early to say,” Licht replied, “because we haven’t really executed a lot of what we’re going to do. But I hope that CNN is better in that I’m allowing people to do their jobs and leaning into the talent that we have here.”

For many CNN on-air talent, producers and rank-and-file staff, more than a dozen of whom I spoke to after the piece ran in the L.A. Times, Licht’s remarks were frustrating and discouraging. To some, in fact, they manifested yet another sign that their embattled leader still does not have a strategy for the storied news network beyond cutting costs, per his mandate from Warner Bros. Discovery, and making the programming less politically polarizing.