LEAD STORY
Chris Cuomo’s Antics Hurt CNN
When Ted Turner launched CNN, he wanted the news to be the star — he believed that the news would be compelling enough to draw viewers to his network. Over the years, that philosophy shifted with new owners and executives to where “stars” were needed to make the news compelling.
The problem with this strategy is when you get to a situation where the “star” becomes the news, which happened at CNN this past week. That “star” was Chris Cuomo. He was unceremoniously let go Saturday afternoon after additional information came to light regarding his involvement with his brother’s, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, sexual harassment allegations. The network was also made aware of a newly revealed sexual misconduct allegation against the news anchor.
When it came to his brother’s involvement, Cuomo's defense is that his family comes first, and he will be there to support his brother. He didn’t disclose that he used his position and stature to try and get additional information on the women accusing his brother.
This was a journalistic no-no, and many wondered why CNN continued to stand by Cuomo.
The answer to that could be that Cuomo and CNN head Jeff Zucker have had a close relationship. It was Zucker who, after he was named president of the network, brought Cuomo to the network in 2013 and used him to create a new morning news show called New Day.
New Day was supposed to be the cable news version of NBC News’ Today Show, but that never panned out. Instead, the show became politics-heavy, and Cuomo used it to audition for a prime time position within the network.
Cuomo PrimeTime premiered in 2018 and became CNN’s highest-rated program. Funny enough, despite having the top show, Cuomo was not considered a marquee talent at the network.
That status belonged to Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, and Jake Tapper, who featured prominently during election coverage and major breaking news coverage.
Zucker allowing Cuomo to interview his brother during the height of the pandemic in 2020 led many to see it as Zucker favoring entertainment value over CNN’s journalistic integrity and credibility.
Cuomo also did himself no favors when he staged his emergence from his basement after recovering from COVID-19 last year.
Such gimmicky tricks have not had positive effects on news anchors at CNN. Rick Sanchez, who once had an afternoon show at the network, stunned himself with a taser. He, too, ended up losing his job after becoming the news after making controversial comments on a radio show.
The fact that Cuomo was repeatedly in the news while trying to report on the news brought negative attention to CNN, which made it that much harder to stand by him.
Who takes over the 9 pm/EST slot is anyone’s guess at the moment, but there is already some posturing. Could it be Tapper, Lemon, Brian Williams, or could now be the time CNN fills the slot with a woman?
We will not know that until early next year, but 2022 will be an important year for the network.
CNN is launching a new streaming service, CNN Plus, and it will have a new parent company when WarnerMedia and Discovery merger is complete.
Will it return to its reporting roots once the merger is done, and will Zucker remain with the network to oversee all of this?
(Los Angeles Times, NPR, CNN, Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, New York Times, Brooke Baldwin/Instagram)
QUICK RECAP
CBS News names Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews executive vice president of newsgathering. (TVNewser)
Kat Tenbarge joins NBC News as a tech culture reporter, and Benjamin Goggin joins as a deputy technology editor. (Kate Tenbarge & Benjamin Goggin/Twitter)
Liz Palmer becomes CBS News’ Asia correspondent, and Ramy Inocencio moves to the London bureau. (TVNewser)
Natasha Korecki joins NBC Politics as a senior national political reporter. (Liz Johnstone/Twitter)
Bryan Logan joins NBC News as a breaking business news editor. (Bryan Logan/Twitter)
ESPN’s Beth Mowins becomes the first woman play-by-play announcer to call a regular-season NBA game. (Awful Announcing)
CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell honored by the National Press Foundation with a 2021 Sol Taishoff Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism. (TVNewser)
November ratings: Fox News is still the top-rated cable news channel. (Deadline)
November ratings: MSNBC is still the second most-watched cable news channel. (NBCUniversal Media Village)
November ratings: CNN outperforms MSNBC during key dayparts. (CNN Press Room)
Should we stop our cable news obsession? (Politico)
Because of Tony Romo’s deal, Cris Collinsworth and Troy Aikman’s contract deals will look different. (New York Post)
Belmont Stakes is set to move from NBC to Fox Sports. (Front Office Sports)
What’s the difference between the various Paramount Plus plans. (The Streamable)
CBS’s 60 Minutes’ publicists Kevin Tedesco is retiring after 25 years. (Variety)
Univision launches a 24/7 streaming news channel. (TVNewser)
NBA viewership is up 8% when compared to 2019. (Sports Media Watch)
Jay Williams calls out ESPN’s social media team. (New York Post)
Netflix suffers a legal loss when it comes to poaching executive talent from Disney. (The Hollywood Reporter)
HBO Max found its footing this year. (Vulture)
Fox Weather will be simulcast on Fox Business on weekend mornings. (Greg Diamond/Twitter)
ESPN and Fox News are the top-rated cable news channels during primetime in November. (MediaPost)
Netflix moves $100 million to Black banks. (The Hollywood Reporter)
For the first time in three years, NBC News’ Nightly News beats ABC News’ World News Tonight. (Forbes)
The streaming battles have now moved overseas. (The Streamable)
How some NBC affiliates are promoting the NBC News’ Nightly News. (NewscastStudio)
ESPN’s ACC Network will soon be available on Xfinity. (Jeff Agrest/Twitter)
Discovery Plus unveils a new brand campaign. (AdWeek)
Ahead of his free agency ESPN’s Adam Schefter’s credibility is becoming an issue. (Awful Announcing)
CBS Sports chief Sean McManus loves his job and has no plans to leave anytime soon. (Sports Business Journal)
ESPN Plus’ importance grows as ESPN loses cable subscribers. (The Streamable)
Disney Plus bows to pressure from China due to a Simpson episode. (New York Times)
Despite the brewing political storm, NBC Sports plows ahead with marketing for the Beijing Olympics. (MediaPost)
ESPN is one of the top sports brands on TikTok. (Digiday)
MSNBC’s Joshua Johnson debuted a new show on NBC News Now. (TVNewser)
Pluto TV will launch a new service in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. (The Streamable)
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A MarkHenry Media LLC publication - Issue #70 - 2021