CNN is facing a turning point in 2023, after a bruising year that brought significant change to the network\u2019s corporate structure, editorial leadership and programming.<\/p>\n
People inside and around the network for much of 2022 have described a feeling of unease, which was punctuated by a round of layoffs rolled out in December by new president Chris Licht.<\/p>\n
Licht is the new man in charge at the cable news giant, tasked with increasing the network\u2019s dipping profitability amid a bleak economic outlook for all major news organizations.<\/p>\n
Licht took over in May, replacing Jeff Zucker following the company\u2019s sale to media conglomerate Discovery. One of Licht\u2019s first tasks was shuttering its heavily promoted paid subscription streaming service, CNN+, less than a month after it launched.<\/p>\n
The failure of CNN+ underlined the corporate divisions that have made Licht\u2019s job so difficult. CNN\u2019s previous management was sold on the new streaming service, but its new leaders were against it even as they negotiated to buy the larger TimeWarner from AT&T.<\/p>\n
The CNN+ move, which reportedly caused hundreds of employees to lose their jobs, was unsettling to many inside the network and prompted Licht to say at the time he did not anticipate further cuts at the outlet.<\/p>\n
But it was an inauspicious start that is haunting the network and Licht heading into 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still don\u2019t think there\u2019s any confidence in him, that he can articulate a vision, or that he can take us where he says he wants to go,\u201d one source at the network told The Hill this week. \u201cAnd no matter how hard he tries, he\u2019s not going to disabuse anyone of the notion of more layoffs coming in 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n
Licht has acknowledged the underlying anxiety at the network, telling the journalist Kara Swisher in a November interview such apprehension is \u201ccompletely understandable,\u201d given what has transpired since he took over.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, that\u2019s the beauty of working with journalists,\u201d Licht said. \u201cThey want to know what\u2019s the plan? This is a group of people that will follow me to the end of the earth if they believe I know what the hell I\u2019m doing and that there\u2019s a plan.\u201d<\/p>\n