Turner CEO John Martin has a lot on his plate right now. Not only is he thinking about parent company Time Warner being sold to AT&T for $85 billion (pending approval) and what that means for his cable networks, which include CNN, TNT and TBS, but Martin also has to deal with the President-elect of the United States consistently insulting one of his brands via Twitter.
I thought that @CNN would get better after they failed so badly in their support of Hillary Clinton however, since election, they are worse!
Advertisement— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2016
Martin happily defended CNN during an interview with Recode senior editor Peter Kafka earlier tonight at the Evening with Code Media conference in New York.
When asked about the above tweet, Martin said, “Please! Failing? CNN is completing its Hall of Fame year.” He then doubled down by saying he believes Trump watches CNN more than any other TV news outlet.
“I think he really cares about what CNN is saying,” Martin continued. “Trump is the president-elect, but I don’t think it means anything for us at CNN.”
The Turner CEO conceded that having Trump in the White House will probably be good for business.
“It’s tough to predict what the ratings will be, although with the Trump administration, there will be a general fascination that wouldn’t be the same as under a Clinton administration.”
According to Martin, CNN has pocketed $1 billion in profit this year, and the network may do even better in 2017. He mentioned that ad revenue will probably go down, but affiliate revenue will go up, and expenses will go down because there won’t be a pricey presidential election to cover. He also said that more money will go towards more CNN originals in 2017, “which we monetize at higher rates with younger audiences.”
Martin also took a not so subtle jab at CNN’s cable news rivals during the on-stage chat. “We have a huge journalistic mission. We’re not Fox News, which is cheering, or MSNBC which is laying on the floor.”
Shots fired.