2022 in review: CNN’s tumultuous year in news media
CNN suffered layoffs, show cancellations, and a number of controversies throughout the year.
Things have not been easy for CNN in recent years. The beleaguered liberal network hoped 2022 would be the year new ownership could help it bounce back after a historically terrible year in 2021.
Last year, aside from its sharp decline in ratings, CNN was mired in constant controversy, from scandals plaguing its star anchor Chris Cuomo resulting in his firing, to the two producers who were ousted as criminal investigations into their alleged sexual predatory behavior were underway.
But rather than turning the page after a long-planned merger put the struggling network under the control of Warner Bros. Discovery, the network remained stuck in the mud.
FOX NEWS CRUSHES CNN, MSNBC IN 2022, FINISHES NO. 1 AMONG ALL OF CABLE FOR 7TH STRAIGHT YEAR
Former CNN boss Jeff Zucker had to resign in February, much to the chagrin of many high-profile anchors, and his replacement, Chris Licht, has ruffled feathers in the industry as he seeks to remake the network's image.
Licht knew he would be in a bumpy ride from the get-go, but even he may not have foreseen how tumultuous 2022 has been. Licht had to scrap the CNN+ streaming service only one month after it launched, canceled the long-struggling morning show "New Day," has still yet to find a full-time replacement for the 9 p.m. ET hour over year after Cuomo’s exit, and had to oversee agonizing layoffs this month. Staffers have said morale at the company is worse than they've ever seen.
Here's a look back at another turbulent year at CNN.
Andy Cohen swipes Ryan Seacrest during CNN's New Year's Eve special
Within the first hours of the new year, CNN was on cleanup duty following its New Year's Eve special, which made headlines when co-host Any Cohen took a swipe at ABC rival Ryan Seacrest.
"There's a bunch of smoke coming from Ryan Seacrest's group of losers that are performing behind us," Cohen told viewers, causing Cooper to chuckle. "I mean, with all due — if you’ve been watching ABC tonight, you’ve seen nothing. I’m sorry, but it's true."
CNN issued a statement on the jab, telling E! "Andy said something he shouldn't have on live TV," adding "We've addressed it with him." Cohen also walked back the comments.
It's been reported that CNN talent will have less alcohol for the upcoming New Year's special.
CNN's New Year's Eve co-host Andy Cohen drunkenly took a swipe at his ABC rival Ryan Seacrest. (Screenshot/CNN)
WARNERMEDIA WON’T SAY WHAT OUSTED CNN BOSS JEFF ZUCKER DID TO VIOLATE NEWS STANDARDS
Jeff Zucker forced out for violating CNN standards and practices
Things took a dramatic turn in February with the sudden ousting of CNN boss Jeff Zucker.
Zucker stunned the media world with his abrupt resignation, initially claiming a consensual-but-undisclosed relationship with then-CNN marketing chief Allison Gollust was the reason for the shock exit. CNN personalities such as Jake Tapper, Jim Acosta and Alisyn Camerota spent the next several days mourning the loss of their once-beloved leader, offering non-stop praise and venting about his exit. Gollust resigned shortly after Zucker.
CNN staffers and outside observers alike never bought that explanation, as their relationship was said to be an "open secret" throughout the media industry that began as early as the 90s when they both worked at NBC.
WarnerMedia initially claimed Jeff Zucker was forced out because of a consensual sexual relationship, but since admitted he also violated the network’s "journalism integrity." ((Getty images))
WarnerMedia eventually admitted Zucker and Gollust violated company policies related directly to news network’s standards and practices. Their violations were found during a third-party probe into CNN’s handling of the "issues" associated with Cuomo and his big brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D. It was also revealed that Zucker and Gollust, a former aide to Cuomo, had given the governor talking points to combat then-President Trump on the national stage during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic.
Licht, who was executive producer and showrunner for CBS’ "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" at the time, was chosen to be Zucker's successor.
Chris Cuomo files $125 million lawsuit against CNN
In March, Cuomo filed a $125 million arbitration demand against CNN for "unlawful termination," alleging that WarnerMedia’s claim the former "Cuomo Prime Time" host violated the network’s news standards and practices is "false."
CHRIS CUOMO SEEKS $125 MILLION FROM CNN IN EXPLOSIVE ARBITRATION DEMAND
CNN had fired Cuomo the previous December following a brief suspension over his extensive involvement in helping his brother stave off sexual misconduct allegations. A subsequent probe of Chris Cuomo's actions at CNN revealed a separate sexual misconduct charge against him from his earlier tenure at ABC News.
Cuomo, who was CNN’s most-watched host until the network fired him, has denied all wrongdoing.
Former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo left a gaping hole in the network’s primetime lineup. (CNN)
CNN+ streaming service shut down after one month
On March 28, CNN threw a swanky launch party for CNN+ on the eve of its highly publicized premiere. Executives, on-air personalities and reporters attended the soiree at an event space located on the 101st floor of Hudson Yards, overlooking Manhattan. For months, the network had been making headlines for its high-profile hires who were set to host their own programs, including Chris Wallace, Kasie Hunt, Audie Cornish, and left-wing personalities Rex Chapman, Jemele Hill and Eva Longoria.
The next day, CNN’s streaming service launched with minimal fanfare and was swiftly mocked when leaked subscription data revealed startlingly low numbers.
WarnerMedia and Discovery completed a long-planned merger on April 8, putting CNN under the control of the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery. Many industry insiders wondered why CNN even launched the service with the merger was looming, as Discovery CEO David Zaslav was known to have a different vision from Zucker’s team. In addition, skeptics wondered why CNN, already plagued by low ratings, would see people pay extra for CNN+.
By April 21, Warner Bros. Discovery announced it would pull the plug on CNN+, only one month after the network’s much-hyped streaming service launched. The previous management team reportedly spent $100 million on development costs and had roughly 500 employees working on the service, but it failed to resonate with viewers and was quickly scrapped.
CHARGES AGAINST CNN PRODUCER ACCUSED OF INDUCING MINORS FOR SEX REVEAL LEWD DETAILS
New CNN boss Chris Licht attempts to fill the Zucker void
Chris Licht, a longtime media veteran who helped launch MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" and "CBS This Morning," was plucked from "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" to bring respectability back to CNN. He was named chairman and CEO in February but didn’t officially start the gig until April.
Licht quickly separated himself from the hands-on Zucker, delegating and observing from afar as he looked to "tamp down spectacle" that was plaguing CNN. He quickly toned down the network’s use of the "Breaking News" on-screen graphic that became commonplace during the previous regime, announced that long-struggling morning show "New Day" would be replaced and indicated he didn’t anticipate layoffs.
Months later, CNN insiders told Fox News Digital that morale was at an all-time low under Licht. He was tasked with cutting millions from CNN’s budget and was forced to lay of hundreds of staffers.
At a tense town hall on Nov. 15, Licht was asked by one employee whether he could be trusted again, given his earlier remarks about not anticipating layoffs. A CNN spokesman noted at the time that Licht also said in June that there would be an assessment of which resources should go where at CNN, and there could be "some changes there."
He has also scaled back CNN's original programming and documentaries, which many considered to be the best pieces of content the network created under Zucker. Licht’s morning lineup replacement for "New Day" hasn’t exactly been a ratings smash, he’s parted ways with several high-profile personalities and still hasn’t filled the 9 p.m. hour left vacant by Cuomo in 2021.
Licht criticized the "uninformed vitriol, especially from the left," that he has received since taking the gig in a recent interview with The New York Times. The paper also reported that Colbert told Licht not to take the job in the first place.
According to the Times, the two speak every Friday and that Colbert starts every conversation with "I told you so."
CNN CEO Chris Licht took control of CNN earlier this year after a long-planned merger that put CNN under control of the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Discovery)
CNN fires Brian Stelter, cancels ‘Reliable Sources’
Brian Stelter, the "Reliable Sources" host derided by conservatives for years as a "janitor" for liberal and mainstream media, was terminated and his show was canceled in August.
The writing had been on the wall since high-powered media executive John Malone, a Warner Bros. Discovery board member who mentored CEO David Zaslav, declared last year CNN should revert to nonpartisan journalism once the liberal network was under the Discovery umbrella. Months later, on the heels of Zucker being forced out ahead of the merger, Stelter accused Malone of "not watching CNN directly" and relying on talking heads and columnists who complain about the network.
BRIAN STELTER DROPPED BY CNN: WHY THE 'RELIABLE SOURCES' HOST WAS SHOWN THE DOOR
Stelter's fate had long been sealed. The day Licht was announced as CNN's new chief in February, everyone around him knew Stelter was toast, one top media insider told Fox News Digital. Those in his orbit had been expecting Stelter to be fired because Licht had complained to peers about the show being bad television. In axing Stelter, Licht's desires to return the network to the middle and purge unexceptional broadcasters overlapped.
Effectively miscast as a political pundit given his hustling media journalism background, Stelter's constant criticism of non-liberal news organizations and unremitting disapproval of Republicans made him one of CNN's most polarizing figures. Some on the left mourned his exit and scolded CNN for canceling the show.
Brian Stelter was fired by CNN in 2022. (Kevin Mazur/Getty)
Jeffrey Toobin, John Harwood forced out of CNN
Stelter wasn’t the only high-profile victim of Licht’s efforts to clean up the network. Jeffrey Toobin, CNN's left-wing legal analyst, split with the network this year.
While Toobin claimed he "decided" to leave, insiders told Fox News Digital he likely wasn't given a choice. Weeks later, CNN White House correspondent John Harwood, who had a long history of openly bashing Republicans despite being billed as a journalist, announced he would also leave CNN.
Harwood frequently made news for his partisan views. Like Toobin, his exit is widely thought to be more of a forced-out situation. Toobin was famously welcomed back to CNN's airwaves in 2021 after a leave of absence stemming from his infamous Zoom masturbation incident.
Don Lemon pulled from primetime to mornings, claims it isn't a demotion
Don Lemon, one of the few remaining household names at CNN despite his struggles in the ratings department, was moved from primetime’s "Don Lemon Tonight" to the new morning show dubbed "CNN This Morning."
In the world of television news, a primetime program bearing the name of the host is considered the highest possible perch. On ABC and NBC, flagship morning shows might reign supreme, but in the world of cable, primetime has historically been king. Because of this, many felt Lemon was being demoted, forcing the liberal host to defend himself on-air with an unmistakably shielding tone once the news broke.
"I was presented with an opportunity that I just can’t pass up, at this network, and we have a new boss who is a morning show [expert]. And he wants a morning show that will kick off the editorial direction of the network, every single day, and I am honored that he asked me to do it," Lemon told viewers.
"He asked me and I said yes. I could have said no. This is my show, I have a contract for this show, I decided I would take him up on that and take this journey with him. This is not someone moving me," Lemon continued. "I was not demoted. None of that. This is an opportunity. This is a promotion."
Despite Lemon’s plea, the decision to move Lemon off primetime was not seen as a promotion in many media circles.
CNN'S JAKE TAPPER MOVING BACK TO OLD TIME SLOT FOLLOWING RATINGS STRUGGLE IN PRIMETIME
Jake Tapper's brief run at 9 p.m.
"Cuomo Prime Time" was replaced with various specials, more Anderson Cooper, additional Don Lemon, a short-lived Jim Acosta experiment, and even Jake Tapper for a short stint ahead of the midterms. None of the options resonated with viewers, and CNN managed only 735,000 in 2022 for a staggering 45% year-to-year drop off during the critical hour.
Tapper made his primetime debut on Oct. 11 with a splashy broadcast that included interviews with President Biden and movie star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Despite the big-named guests, "CNN Tonight with Jake Tapper" fell flat, averaging only 854,000 viewers and his audience substantially dipped in subsequent episodes. In October, Tapper averaged only 691,000 viewers.
Tapper, who's hosted "The Lead" at CNN since 2013 and is its chief Washington correspondent, pushed back firmly on media reports that he was doing a "try-out" of sorts during his stint leading up to the midterms; the New York Times' James Stewart referred to it in a recent interview with Licht as an "experiment," but Tapper said that continues to be a mischaracterization, saying he had no desire to leave his afternoon show due to family commitments.
"None of this is complicated," he told Fox News Digital in a text. "I didn't want to do 9 because I have kids… Chris asked me to do it through midterms. I said OK. It was announced as temporary. No one was expecting ratings to change in a month."
CNN has not named a permanent host for the 9 p.m. ET timeslot.
Jake Tapper’s primetime stint averaged only 636,000 total viewers from its Oct. 11 debut through Nov. 1. (Photo by Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images)
CNN apologizes to Thailand for entering mass shooting site
CNN scrubbed a report from its website and apologized in October for "any distress" it caused after irking officials with the network’s "insensitive" coverage of a daycare massacre in northeast Thailand.
The horrific shooting and knife attack in the province of Nongbua Lamphu – around 300 miles northeast of the capital of Bangkok – left 36 people dead, 23 of them children. The Thai Journalist’s Association’s Committee on Press Freedom and Media Reform blasted CNN, calling the network’s coverage of the attack "unethical, insensitive and at the risk of encouraging ‘copycat’ behaviors" from other outlets after CNN crews entered the crime scene without permission.
The TJA said CNN’s action "amounts to an intrusion of a major crime scene," and calling it a "seriously flawed decision that no professional media should have taken." It also accused CNN of airing graphic images "without a clear appeal to the public interest that may cause distress to the audience," and setting a "dangerous precedent" for other media personnel to breach ethics and privacy concerns to secure exclusive scoops.
CNN apologized but insisted its crews wouldn’t have entered the crime scene if they knew it was restricted.
Bloodbath at CNN as network slashes head count
CNN’s effort to cut costs resulted in widespread layoffs in December with everyone from high-profile talent to rank-and-file staffers losing their jobs. Licht also pulled the plug on all live programming at HLN, a sister network of CNN.
In his memo to staff, Licht attempted to explain the changes, which included "reorganizing" CNN, "relying" more on CNN journalists for analysis than paid contributors, the merging of show staffs in the daytime and weekend lineups, and the reduction of the creative marketing team.
"The changes we are making today are necessary and will make us stronger and better positioned to place big bets going forward without fear of failure," Licht wrote. "To your departing colleagues, I want to express my gratitude for your dedicated and tireless service and for your many contributions to CNN. To all employees, I want to underscore the importance of talking the time you need to best be able to move forward."
Hundreds of employees were impacted. Among the high-profile talent who were forced out include CNN's editor-at-large Chris Cillizza, contributors Susan Glasser (staff writer at the New Yorker) and Jonathan Martin (columnist at Politico) as well as legal analyst Preet Bharara.
Ex-CNN producer pleads guilty to child sex crime
John Griffin, a former senior producer for CNN accused of child sex crimes, pleaded guilty in federal court this month after being charged a year ago. Griffin, 45, faces a minium of 10 years to life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. His sentencing is scheduled for March.
A federal indictment accused the former "New Day" producer of coercing parents to allow their minor daughters as young as seven years old to engage in sexual activity in his Vermont ski home.
Griffin had worked at the network for eight years. CNN fired him after his arrest.
Former CNN senior producer John Griffin. (Twitter)
CNN suffers through lowest-rated year in history
CNN had its smallest audience of all time among total day viewers from the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults age 25-54 in 2022.
CNN averaged only 122,000 total day viewers among the critical demographic, shedding 35% of its 2021 audience in the process. But the key demo isn’t the only category in which CNN had problems, as the network managed only 566,000 total day viewers compared to 1.5 million for Fox News.
During the primetime hours of 8-11 p.m. ET, CNN averaged a dismal 726,000 viewers, a 33% decline from last year.
CNN’s most-watched program was "Anderson Cooper 360," which managed only 874,000 average nightly viewers to finish No. 23 among cable news offerings.
CNN’s viewership issues became clearer than ever in November when the struggling network finished dead last in midterm election coverage among the three major cable news networks for the first time in history.
Fox News’ David Rutz and Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.