CNN boss Mark Thompson floated for return to – Business News
Could CNN boss Mark Thompson be headed back to London to save the BBC?
The Status publication reported on Tuesday that Thompson’s identify has been bandied about in media circles as a doable candidate to return to the helm of the scandal-plagued British broadcaster.
The “Beeb” has been reeling in current days from the sudden resignation of its high two information executives and a billion-dollar lawsuit risk from President Donald Trump.
CNN boss Mark Thompson is rumored to be a candidate to return to the helm of British public broadcaster BBC. Getty Images for Warner Bros. Discovery
Tim Davie resigned as director-general of the BBC over the weekend. Getty Images
A CNN rep advised The Post on Wednesday that Thompson is “fully committed to his role as Chairman and CEO of CNN and remains firmly in that role.” Nonetheless, his future is way from sure.
Thompson, the British-born govt, ran the BBC from 2004 to 2012, steering the broadcaster by way of scandals and editorial breaches.
He then reworked the New York Times from a struggling print dinosaur into a digital juggernaut, growing paid digital subscriptions from half a million to almost 5.7 million between 2012 and 2020.
His monitor file of rescuing legacy media organizations in disaster could also be precisely what the BBC wants proper now after the public broadcaster noticed the resignation of two high executives.
Director General Tim Davie and CEO of News Deborah Turness each resigned dramatically on Sunday evening, leaving a large energy vacuum on the high of the 102-year-old establishment.
Their exits adopted a firestorm over a BBC “Panorama” documentary that used a deceptively edited clip of Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021 speech.
Deborah Turness, who additionally resigned on Sunday, was the BBC’s head of information. AFP through Getty Images
The edit, which omitted Trump’s call for supporters “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard,” was uncovered in a 19-page file by former BBC editorial adviser Michael Prescott.
Trump’s camp went nuclear on the London-based community, with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt blasting the BBC as “100% fake news” and a “propaganda machine.”
Trump’s legal professionals adopted up with a letter threatening a $1 billion lawsuit and giving the broadcaster a Friday deadline to situation a full retraction and an apology.
Warner Bros. Discover CEO David Zaslav put the company up for sale final month. Getty Images
Meanwhile, anxiousness is operating high at CNN places of work in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards as the longer term of the all-news community stays murky.
Warner Bros. Discovery — CNN’s mother or father company — put itself up for sale in October and plans to announce a deal or company break up by Christmas.
That leaves Thompson, who took over CNN in 2023, in a precarious place. A new proprietor would seemingly set up its own management, making the BBC job a probably enticing touchdown spot for the community boss.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison is eager on buying Warner Bros. Discovery. AFP through Getty Images
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts can also be mentioned to be mulling an offer for Warner Bros. Discovery. AP
The feeding frenzy for WBD is already on. Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has made three separate affords for the company, with the most recent a $23.50-per-share bid that WBD’s board has up to now rejected.
Ellison is reportedly prepared to go hostile, taking the offer instantly to shareholders.
Comcast and Netflix have additionally proven curiosity in buying WBD’s studio and streaming property, although they haven’t made formal affords.
Ellison, nevertheless, has a potential ace up his sleeve: Trump, who praised the Paramount chief on “60 Minutes” as a “great, new leader” for the media and whose administration may make it simpler to gain regulatory approval for an acquisition.
The Post has sought remark from Warner Bros. Discovery and the BBC.
