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Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has left the door open for ousted ex-CNN head Chris Licht to potentially return to the parent company in some capacity.
Zaslav praised Licht as a “great guy” and “talented guy” during an on-stage interview with journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin at The New York Times’ DealBook summit on Wednesday.
“Chris is going to have a lot of great chapters and hopefully some of those with us at Warner Bros.,” Zaslav said.
“Very talented.”
Licht, who was reportedly seated in the audience during Zaslav’s session, was described by the Warner Bros. Discovery chief as “a good friend,” according to comments reported by the news site Mediaite.
In June, Zaslav invited his “good friend” Licht for an early morning walk through Central Park during which the media mogul informed the embattled then-CNN boss that his tumultuous 13-month tenure at the all-news cable outfit was over.
Licht was shown the door after a damning expose by The Atlantic that portrayed him as a thin-skinned executive who was insecure about staffers’ longing for his predecessor, the disgraced Jeff Zucker.
Zaslav and Licht had made the same Central Park trek the previous year during which Zaslav offered Licht the job of succeeding Zucker as CNN president.
Licht’s tenure at the helm of CNN was marred by low ratings, on-air controversies involving Don Lemon and other talent, and staff-wide dissatisfaction over the executive’s aloof demeanor and poor communication skills.
When asked to sum up Licht’s stewardship of CNN, Zaslav told Sorkin on Wednesday: “There were a lot of great days, there was a lot of tough days.”
“We had a lot of fun, a lot of battles together,” Zaslav added.
Licht was not immediately available for comment. The Post has reached out to Warner Bros. Discovery.
In August, Zaslav named former BBC chief Mark Thompson as Licht’s successor.
Thompson faces an uphill battle in light of CNN’s ratings, which are well behind cable leader Fox News and second-place MSNBC.
Fox News has consistently held a commanding lead over both MSNBC and CNN in both the 25-54 age demographic coveted by advertisers as well as total viewership.
MSNBC is firmly ensconced in second place on the strength of its strong prime-time lineup featuring Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, and Alex Wagner — all of whom generate an audience that is at least twice the size of their CNN competitors including Anderson Cooper and Kaitlan Collins.
Fox News shares common ownership with The Post.