Warner Bros. Discovery’s search for an outsider to run CNN has taken it to two high-profile veterans of the BBC. A leading contender for the job is Mark Thompson, the former New York Times and BBC chief. But the company has also spoken to another prominent British journalist, James Harding, who led BBC News from 2013 to 2017 and then founded the British digital media outlet Tortoise. (Semafor)
As Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav works to convince Thompson to take over CNN, the D.T.C. brain trust at Hudson Yards is testing the limits of the post-cable future with a plan to finally begin live-streaming the network’s primetime talent on Max. (Puck)
CNN staffers are reportedly surprised at the speed at which Zaslav has been searching for a successor to Chris Licht, according to Semafor. It had been anticipated that CNN would continue to be managed on an interim basis by a trio of executives through the U.S. presidential election next year. (NY Post)