President Trump wants a very different kind of CNN if the cable news channel’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, changes hands.
As details emerge of the battle between Netflix and Paramount for control of the historic movie studio and its streaming and television properties, President Trump has made it clear that he wants new ownership and leadership of Netflix, which has been a major target of attacks on mainstream media over the past decade.
“I think the people who ran CNN for so long should be ashamed,” President Trump told reporters Wednesday. “I don’t think they should be left running CNN anymore. So I think any deal should guarantee and ensure that CNN is either part of it or sold separately.”
White House press secretary Caroline Levitt echoed Trump’s sentiments from the podium Thursday after a heated exchange with CNN anchor Caitlan Collins. “Ratings are down, and I think the president legitimately believes that the networks will benefit from new ownership on this deal,” Levitt said.
President Trump said he would be “involved” in the government’s regulatory review of WBD trading. Injecting into the process the president’s animosity toward CNN dating back to the 2016 election, network officials worry that journalistic independence will be sacrificed for the Warner Bros. Discovery deal.
CNN declined to comment.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Paramount CEO David Ellison indicated to Trump administration officials that his company would make “fundamental changes” to CNN if it took control. (A representative for Mr. Ellison declined to comment.)
Ellison said CNN’s reporting operations would be merged with Paramount’s CBS News, and conservative-leaning Bari Weiss would become editor-in-chief. Such a move would follow the resolution of a controversy surrounding a “60 Minutes” interview featuring then-Vice President Kamala Harris earlier this year.
President Trump said he would like to meet a new CNN owner, even if Netflix wins. Netflix’s $72 billion offer does not include CNN or WBD’s other underlying cable assets. Paramount countered with a $78 billion offer.
What President Trump wants is more positive coverage. But pandering to the White House could have questionable business consequences for the next CNN owner.
The cable news landscape has evolved over the past decade as the country’s politics have become more polarized and tribally polarized.
This trend has helped conservative-leaning Fox News and progressives, both of which have seen their viewership grow during that time even as the number of pay-TV households has declined dramatically.
CNN has sought to maintain a centrist position, but its aggressive coverage of President Trump’s first term has created a perception that it has swung to the left, especially as more commentary has been added to its prime-time programming.
CNN was already seeing the impact of its efforts to bring more right-leaning voices into its programming under the executive, who takes over the network in 2022. The executive was commissioned by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who has publicly said the network needs to appeal more to conservative viewers.
The network quickly experienced an exodus of viewers, coming in third place behind MS NOW. CNN was making $1.2 billion in profits at the beginning of the decade. This year, that amount is expected to be in the $675 million range.
Digital entrepreneur and former CNN president John Klein said it would be foolish for his former network to blatantly court conservatives again.
“You’re not going to be able to convince all the Fox News viewers that CNN is suddenly going to be friendly to them and their way of life,” he said. “They’re a much older audience and they’re not going to change their habits easily. There’s a mistrust that’s built up over the years.”
Klein pointed out that even the upstart right-wing networks Newsmax and OAN, which have been unwavering supporters of Trump, have not affected Fox News’ dominance. MS NOW will be the beneficiary of CNN’s rightward shift, he added.
Another former CNN executive said, “The decline in ratings will accelerate and ratings will become completely meaningless,” but declined to comment publicly.
Fox News doesn’t just provide coverage and commentary that is mostly sympathetic to Trump. Rupert Murdoch’s network strives to forge deep connections with its viewers, which has made it the ratings leader since 2002.
Fox News’ lineup of highly paid personalities is reliably in sync with its viewers’ values and hot topics, keeping them tuned in. Audience loyalty has helped attract hundreds of new advertisers in recent years, some of whom are incorporating patriotic messages into their marketing efforts.
“Fox is an incredibly well-oiled machine,” Klein said.
Klein said CNN and other traditional news organizations should focus on developing effective digital strategies to future-proof themselves as traditional television viewing declines, rather than seeking ideological balance.
Attempts to satisfy President Trump’s desire for more positive coverage will be a slippery slope. While Paramount has appointed an ombudsman to CBS News, a move aimed at clearing a regulatory path for its merger with Skydance Media, President Trump continues to slam coverage he doesn’t like.
After a “60 Minutes” interview with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) that aired on Dec. 7, she was highly critical of the new president, Trump.
The only significant move under Weiss to appeal to conservative viewers is her performance as murdered right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, which airs on Saturday.
“I think there’s a perception out there that if they can at least get them out of Paramount’s hands, then some wealthy philanthropist will buy them, and that’s OK,” said the former CNN executive.
But if Netflix acquires WBD without CNN, there’s no guarantee it won’t end up with pro-Trump owners if the networks are spun off into separate companies. While the public may be hoping for Atlantic Coast Chair Laurene Powell-Jobs to take office, it could end up with a well-heeled right-winger.
CNN Chairman Mark Thompson’s message to the military is to “stay calm and carry on.” “We understand that this strategic review is a time of unavoidable uncertainty for CNN as a whole, and indeed WBD as a whole,” Thompson told staff in a recent memo. “Of course, I can’t promise that the media attention and noise surrounding the sale of our parent company will die down overnight, but I believe the path to successful transformation of this great news company remains open.”
President Trump’s anger at CNN became more personal as time went on. He reportedly insulted reporters at a press conference and told others he wanted to see anchors Erin Burnett and Brianna Keilor fired.
Oddly enough, it was Burnett’s journalism that provided President Trump with the most effective video commercial of his 2024 campaign.
Burnett conducted an interview with Kamala Harris in 2020, in which the former vice president expressed support for providing medical care to prisoners receiving gender-affirming care. This clip was used in a commercial that read, “Kamala is for them, President Trump is for you.”
