The American broadcaster CNN, which has been struggling with crises for a while, appointed Mark Thompson, who held top positions at the New York Times and the BBC, as CEO. Thompson, who developed a digital subscription system at the NY Times, takes office on October 9.
David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, wrote in a letter to colleagues Wednesday morning, "Mark has had an amazing career and I've been a long-time admirer of his leadership and his ability to inspire and achieve organizations' great goals and to push the possible forward. "I am confident that he is exactly the leader we need to lead CNN at this crucial time."
CNN grapples with crisis for 18 months
CNN, one of the world's leading news organizations, has been grappling with an almost endless series of crises for the past 18 months. Ratings plummeted, profits plummeted, and the channel is still reeling from Chris Licht's term as CEO, which was terminated in June. Since Licht's dismissal, the channel has been run by three CNN veterans Amy Entelis, Virginia Moseley, and Eric Sherling, as well as David Leavy, Zaslav's longtime aide.
Sir Mark John Thompson (born 31 July 1957) is a British media executive who is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ancestry, the largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, and Chief Executive Officer of the Cable News Network (CNN). He is the former president and chief executive officer of The New York Times Company. From 2004 to 2012, he served as Director-General of the BBC, and before that was the Chief Executive of Channel 4. In 2009 Thompson was ranked as the 65th most powerful person in the world by Forbes magazine. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2017.
In his note, Zaslav thanked the four executives who run CNN after Licht's departure and acknowledged the unease that the channel's staff had endured. In the statement made by Warner Bros. Discovery, it was stated that the four executives in question will continue their duties under Thompson. "I want to say that I am aware that change is not easy, and I know that you have been through a lot," wrote Zaslav.
Started as a trainee at the BBC
Thompson, 66, joined the channel with more experience running major news outlets than Licht, a former morning and night show producer.
Thompson started as an intern at the BBC in 1979 and was promoted to the broadcaster's highest position, general manager, in 2004. He joined the New York Times company as CEO in 2012 and was among a group of executives who have reinvigorated the company financially by greatly expanding the digital subscription business.
When Thompson took a job at the New York Times, the subscriber paywall for the newspaper's website was still in its infancy. In an interview with a British publication two years ago, he said in his early days at the company he faced "skepticism" that it was possible to significantly increase his digital subscriber base. "I thought we weren't doing it well enough. And we weren't doing it wisely enough. And we weren't using the data right," Thompson said.
The New York Times currently has over 9 million digital-only subscribers, with nearly 10 million total subscribers. Thompson left the company in 2020 and was replaced by Meredith Kopit Levien, who expanded its subscription strategy.
'TV journalism is deteriorating'
In a message to CNN staff on Wednesday, Thompson acknowledged that television journalism is experiencing "the highest level of degradation". Thompson wrote: "We are facing oppression from all sides - structural, political, cultural, whatever you can think of." “Like so many other media outlets, CNN has felt some of the uncertainty and heartbreak that comes with all this lately. There is no magic wand that neither I nor anyone else can use to clear this mess.” He continued: "But I can say that where others see the threat, I see opportunity - especially given CNN's big brand and the power of its journalism."