Jeff Zucker, the president of CNN, is stepping down from his position at the end of this year, according to reports.
Zucker alerted CNN staff members during a call on Thursday morning that he intended to leave his position when his contract is up later this year, according to the New York Times.
“I’m going to stay and finish my current contract, which, as I said, will keep me here until the end of this year. At that point, I do expect to move on,” Zucker said, according to the Daily Beast.
Since coming on board in 2013, Zucker has had a significant influence on CNN’s operations. In recent months, Mr. Zucker reportedly had tensions with his newly appointed boss Jason Killar, the chief executive of WarnerMedia.
Zucker says he will remain through his current contract, which runs through 2021.
“I love my job, it’s really that simple,” Zucker said. “I have an incredible vantage point here. I felt that I wanted to honor the contractual commitment.”
https://t.co/m0clWcsjhB— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) February 4, 2021
CNN has been on a rating streak in past months, breaking a 40-year network high in November, according to Adweek. Zucker announced his plans to exit just as CNN’s ratings fall back down, according to Variety. (RELATED: Trey Gowdy Blasts Brian Stelter, CNN: ‘He Seems To Be Setting Himself Up As That Moral Arbiter For The Rest Of Us’)
As the chairman of WarnerMedia News and Leisure, Zucker supervises both CNN and the parent company’s sports properties. He left his mark on almost every aspect of the programming of the network and regularly contributed suggestions to the network’s anchors.
According to his friends, Mr. Zucker has been in good spirits in the weeks leading up to this announcement, the New York Times reported.