Monday night, speaking to a packed crowd at the swanky Peak restaurant in Manhattan, CNN’s Andrew Morse was looking for a Kumbaya moment — something to bring the troubled, ratings-challenged channel together following a string of high-profile firings and scandals that has cast doubt on its future.
That something is known as CNN+. Morse is the point man in last week’s launch of the new, much heralded and capital-intensive streaming service. With ratings falling, and consumer cord-cutting on the rise, many people inside the network believe the future of CNN is dependent on the nascent streaming channel to attract an audience that is increasingly eschewing traditional cable.
The speech and the high-profile (and expensive) setting for the channel’s launch was supposed to foreshadow good things to come. Morse heralded CNN+ as a “new chapter in CNN history.” He said the timing of the launch is perfect — just as consumers are increasingly embracing streaming content.
Very weird turn
He then started to thank the people who launched the new and possibly transformational product.
And that’s when things got weird.
Morse thought it would be smart to applaud the work of two people who couldn’t attend the soiree for obvious reasons: former CNN honcho Jeff Zucker and his No. 2, Allison Gollust. The duo not only were the brains behind the creation of CNN+, they also were recently and famously ousted — much to the chagrin of the network’s Zucker-loyal talent — because their recently disclosed romantic fling violated company-dating guidelines.
Nearly in the same breath, Morse stepped in it again, this time giving kudos to the guy who controversially pulled the trigger, WarnerMedia chief Jason Kilar.
“When he made those statements, everyone seemed to freeze,” said one person in attendance. “It…