Lessons in Leadership from "Zas" and Other Legends
Posted May 10, 2022 in Publisher's Page
In April, on his fourth day as Chief Executive of the newly merged Warner Bros. Discovery, David Zaslav—known as “Zas”—shut down CNN+, less than one month after its launch. CNN+ was a streaming subscription service that had been in the works since July 2021 with the goal of improving the cable news network’s offerings with live, on-demand and interactive programming.
The sudden closure was a shock in the media world, given that $300 million dollars had already been spent, the speed with which it happened and because some big names had joined the organization, including Audie Cornish from NPR and Chris Wallace from Fox News.
Zaslav—who had been a very successful CEO of Discovery since 2006—and his team felt CNN+ was eating up too many resources and they needed to focus on their core products that drive their singular focus: CNN’s journalism and its reputation as a global news leader. His actions demonstrate...
