Jeff Zucker is the President of CNN Worldwide.
Mr. Zucker was brought in to boom up its ratings – a strange expectation, since he had just failed miserably at doing so for NBC-Universal.
Since he has been at the helm, CNN\’s ratings have fallen so far that you\’d need professional oil riggers to drill down far enough to find them. But he\’s still there anyway.
And now, in keeping with his formula for success that has yielded these remarkable results, Jeff Zucker has just named David Chalian as CNN\’s new Political Director.
David Chalian is the former Yahoo News Washington Bureau Chief who was summarily fired for making a supersedingly nasty, obnoxious crack about Mitt Romney and his family during the 2012 Republican National Convention when Hurricane Isaac was hitting New Orleans, Chalian said, within range of a hot microphone, that “They are happy to have a party with Black people drowning.”
For that ugly, disgusting statement, Chalian was gone from Yahoo within 24 hours, and good riddance.
But hello, CNN – which should tell you something about both Jeff Zucker\’s talent and his political leaning.
I\’m no TV executive, but as someone with over 40 years in marketing research – and at least some minimal common sense – I would like to offer an observation to Jeff Zucker, in the form of a question:
If Fox News Channel, which leans right, is wiping up the floor with the decidedly leftward MSNBC, why in the world would you think that moving CNN in MSNBC\’s direction would boost its ratings?
My seven year old grandson would laugh at that move. But you made it. Maybe that explains your “success” with NBC-Universal, and your “success” with CNN.
