During an investor conference on Thursday, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) CEO David Zaslav expressed his support of CNN CEO Chris Licht despite reported tension within the network over its decision to host a town hall with former President Donald Trump.
As reported by CNBC, Zaslav assured investors during the MoffettNathanson Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference in New York that Licht is "working really hard" to rebuild CNN and improve its brand and image.
"CNN should be the place that people come for the best version of the truth and for journalism, and that's what we're building," Zaslav said. "Chris is rebuilding the network."
The CEO also cited a recent YouGov poll to support that Licht's work is paying off, stating that U.S. viewers' trust in the news network has improved by 11% over the past year.
In addition to emphasizing the network's efforts to provide more balance in its reporting and news coverage, Zaslav said Licht and CNN's management have been focused on removing all public perception that CNN is an "advocacy network."
"We need to show both sides of every issue," he said.
Despite the public and media backlash CNN faced over its May 10 town hall, in which Trump butted heads with moderator Kaitlan Collins in front of a live audience of his supporters, Zaslav continues to back Licht. He also previously expressed his desire to have the former president, whose lead over Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2024 Republican primary polls has nearly doubled since March, appear on CNN.
"[Trump's] the frontrunner," Zaslav had told CNBC's "Squawk Box." "He has to be on our network."
During the conference, the WBD CEO noted that another reason why CNN has been recently successful is due to the fact that "Republicans are back on the air." He said that during a contentious four days of voting for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in January, "we had 75 Republicans on the air."
Though Zaslav's comments during the investor conference sounded promising, advertisers know that he, Licht and CNN still have a lot of work ahead of them if they hope to turn around the network's troubles. CNN's overall ratings fell below FOX News, MSNBC and Newsmax on Tuesday during the 7-8 p.m. time slot (when Trump called into "Rob Schmitt Tonight"), and the network's profits dropped below $1 billion in 2022, as reported by The New York Times.
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