John Stankey, AT&T’s “Mr. Casual” CEO whose apparent goal is mediocrity—just look at AT&T’s wan stock performance since he took over—seems to be totally oblivious to the gyrations of his subordinate, CNN President Jeff “Mother” Zucker. The dwarf king of cable news continues the steady ablation of CNN’s once-great reputation and Stankey seems blithely indifferent, at best.
The latest set of Zucker’s Kamikaze-style blunders came last week.
First, Zucker dumped the CNN Airport channel, claiming “the steep decline in airport traffic because of COVID-19, coupled with all the ways that people are consuming content on their personal devices, has lessened the need.”
What a load of bull!
Zucker just dumped a CNN monopoly of 1,800 screens across the United States and blamed it on a virus and cell phones.
He failed to mention CNN has devolved into a left-wing crapshoot, whose best “content” consists of the ad hoc rantings of a pajama boy son of a billionaire, abetted by a crotch-rubbing, bartender-assaulting, history-distorting “anchor” and a muscle-bound, Brylcreem-challenged Eddie Haskell from outer space.
Airline passengers used to make phone calls while they watched CNN Airport, back when it did the news and not “content.” Those poor folks are now forced to use their devices because watching contemporary CNN is cruel and unusual punishment.
Given that the aforementioned CNN “anchors”—whose unfettered bloviating creates enough bad air to upset the entire Paris Climate Accord—each bang the network for a reported $4 million, why not reduce their salaries and keep the two dozen poor bastards who are going to lose their jobs in a few weeks?
Meanwhile, Jake-Rhymes-With-Crapper Tapper lost his mind again, inveighing against the patriotism of Representative Brian Mast (R-Fla.), who lost both legs attempting to disarm an IED in Afghanistan. Worse, the arrogant Tapper, who has no record of service, refuses to apologize.
Contemporaneously, Don Lemon was busy accusing Trump supporters of being like the KKK or the Nazis, take your pick. The fact that Lemon just insulted some 75 million Americans ensures that his name, his reportage, and the bitter yellow fruit are, in fact, eponymous and identical.
All that, and not a disciplinary word from Mother Zucker.
Back in Dallas, John Stankey seems completely oblivious to the fact that CNN is nowhere near as profitable as it should be, as Zucker is dumping units (CNN Airport and the “Great Big Story,” which closed in September) to make his bottom line look good.
What is Stankey thinking, as the telecom behemoth, the amalgam of the creations of Alexander Graham Bell, Jack Warner, and Ted Turner, trundles along as listlessly as its stock price?
Stankey might be well advised to review the demise of other giant companies who were caught not minding the store: Kodak, Bethlehem Steel, Polaroid, and RCA.