Katie Couric casts doubt on CNN’s ability to be ‘down-the-middle network’
Veteran TV broadcaster Katie Couric cast doubt on CNN’s ability to find success as a “down-the-middle network” as the ratings-challenged news channel attempts to return to its centrist roots, according to a report.
The former “Today” anchor and talk-show host lamented the difficulties facing CNN in a Variety exposé about the floundering network.
“It’s incredibly challenging in the current media environment to be a down-the-middle network,” Couric — who had a short stint at CNN after the network first launched —
The 66-year-old cancer survivor added that “it would take a truly brilliant programmer to figure out how CNN could once again become a town square with different perspectives on important, complex issues,” according to the outlet.
“And even then, I’m not convinced people would even want to watch that in this hyper-partisan world. It’s a huge conundrum.”
“As the slices of the pie get smaller and smaller, it’s more important than ever to have an engaged audience that may be more interested in affirmation than information,” Couric added. “I think that’s why there’s so much more commentary on cable.”
Rep༒r꧒esentatives for Couric told The Post that she was unavailable for comment.
CNN banked better 𒁃ratings when it leaned ꦚinto its notoriously left-leaning coverage.
It saw a bump during the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol — the network’s most-watched day since Ted Turned launched the news outlet in 1980.
CNN’s ratings have since tanked, though there was a short-lived jolt earlier this year when network boss Chris Licht m🧸ade the controversial move to host a town hall on the network with former President Donald Trump.
Licht’s ill-fated efforts to bring CNN back to the center of politics was reportedly supported by David Zaslav, the chief executive of the network’s corporate parent Warner Bros. Discovery.
However, they also resulted in a so-called “house on fire,” a former CNN producꦯer told The Post last month after Licht was dumped following a tumultuous 13-month reign.
Licht’s downfall was exacerbated by a scathing Atlantic profile that portrayed him as a thin-skinned executive leading a resentful staff who had lingering loyalties to his predecessor, Jeff Zucker.
Zucker, meanwhile, was ousted from his top dog position in 2021 after acknowledginﷺg a “consensual relationship” with Allison Gollust, his chief market🦹ing officer, which he failed to disclose to his superiors at the network.
At the time, Couric — who knew both Zucker and Gollust from their time at NBC — said that Zucker’s “resignation took me by surprise,” in a statement issued by Katie Couric Media.
“He was a talented and energetic producer,” Couric added, though she reportedly had a falling-out with the TV mogul when she resisted Zucker’s attempts to get Gollust hired as flack for the “Today” show.
Couric hosted NBC’s “Today” show from 1991 to 2006, around the same time Zucker worked as a producer on the show.
“At a certain point, Jeff made a huge push to bring on Allison Gollust (at the ‘Today Show’)” despite the fact that the position was long filled, Couric wrote in her memoir “Going There.”
She added that 𒊎her snub of Gollust later cost her the op𝐆portunity to land a gig at CNN — despite the fact that she endorsed Zucker to helm the network before he was named president.
The Post has sought comment from CNN a🎶nd Katic Couric Media.
