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CNN’s ratings have clearly improved since bottoming out in 2014. But now the news channel has made a monster comeback under the leadership of its international president Jeff Juker.
Zucker, who took the reigns at CNN 2 years ago, made some boastful predictions for the future in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter this week.
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He said, “We’ve made a lot of progress. We’ve got a lot of momentum.”
THR reports that CNN jumped 11% in viewers in the first quarter of 2015.
He was especially proud of the new morning show which Zucker developed called “New Day”, which has beaten MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” hosted by former Congressman Joe Scarborough for 11 consecutive months.
But Morning Joe still wins in Washington DC. This led Scarborough to tweet that his show was more important with the politicians and actual people of influence.
Zucker retorted, “That’s not how the game is played; that’s not how [TV] is sold. And if that’s what you’re talking about, it’s probably about time to start getting your résumé ready.”
Scarborough shot back saying, “Jeff’s continued obsession with ‘Morning Joe’ is fun to watch. More people have watched ‘Morning Joe’ than CNN for 5 straight years. As the political season heats up, I expect that winning streak to rise to 6.”
“It is also a matter of record that Morning Joe sets the agenda for politicians, the press and other influencers every morning from the White House, to Capitol Hill to media offices nationwide, ” Scarborough added. “The fact the network president of CNN Worldwide is so obsessed with a morning talk show host proves the point by itself that ‘Morning Joe’ remains the news show that matters most to influencers. ‘Morning Joe’ matters to people who run the world and I guess that still drives Jeff crazy.”
CNN brings in more than $1 billion in annual revenue.
