CNN not waiting to make more changes at network, insider says: 'They’re not going to wait out deals'

The sudden ouster of CNN's Brian Stelter last week despite recently signing a new contract shows CEO Chris Licht isn't going to wait for existing contracts to expire before making changes, an insider tells Fox News Digital.

The abrupt cancellation of Stelter's show "Reliable Sources" came after the media correspondent had re-upped in 2021 with the network for four years, according to the New York Times.

"It’s interesting they’re buying out contracts with so much time left on them," a CNN insider told Fox News Digital. "They’re not waiting. They’re eating it because they want the changes, and they’re not going to wait out deals. Most deals were done in [Jeff Zucker's] last year, so this shows time on contract isn’t going to get in their way if they want change."

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A CNN spokesman confirmed reports last week that Licht, who was tasked with running the company earlier this year when a merger put the network under control of Warner Bros. Discovery, had told team members on a morning editorial call that more changes were on the way. 

"There will be more changes… you might not understand it or like it all," Licht told staffers. "Give us some time, see how things develop." 

The insider added more contributor cuts are likely forthcoming, and the moves have caused consternation within the network that has already dealt with more than its share of upheaval over the past year.  

"They’re making changes and so that always causes anxiety," they said, adding Stelter's departure wasn't viewed as a surprise.

Since last summer, top-rated anchor Chris Cuomo was fired, then-president Jeff Zucker was forced to resign, and its much-ballyhooed streaming service CNN+ was shut down after less than a month. Now longtime legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin is gone – while he announced he was departing of his own volition, he was effectively pushed out, according to sources – and Stelter is, too. 

The network shakeup comes after Liberty Media chairman John Malone, who sat on the Discovery Communications Inc. board of directors prior to the merger and is now an influential Warner Bros. Discovery board member, appeared on CNBC last November and made comments about the future of CNN. 

Malone declared CNN should revert to nonpartisan journalism once the network that drifted to the left under Zucker was under the Discovery umbrella – which became official on April 11. 

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"I would like to see CNN evolve back to the kind of journalism that it started with, and actually have journalists, which would be unique and refreshing," Malone said.

Many industry insiders took this as a sign that CNN’s new management would shed the liberal pundits that rose to fame under Zucker, but Malone recently denied that he was directly responsible for terminating Stelter. 

An Axios report earlier this year name-dropped him and left-wing weekend anchor Jim Acosta as two of the liberal hosts seen by conservatives as the face of the network's Zucker-era partisan shift. 

Acosta, who rose to fame by constantly sparring with members of the Trump administration during his time as CNN's White House correspondent, remains with the network. Stelter's now-canceled media show almost solely concentrated on ripping conservative outlets and was often derided as playing clean-up for mainstream ones.

While Licht used the early months of his tenure to evaluate all of CNN’s talent and executives, he has begun making changes. He also said earlier this year that he would "re-imagine" CNN's morning show "New Day," which was Zucker's brainchild when he took over in 2013, so major changes are expected there, too. Co-anchor Brianna Keilar is outspokenly liberal and has not succeeded in improving the program's ratings since moving over from her dayside show early last year. 

Former CBS News executive producer Ryan Kadro began a new gig at CNN as senior vice president of content strategy and development on Monday and is expected to help reshape the network’s long-struggling morning show. "CBS This Morning," which Kadro and Licht have both spent time running, was seen as significantly less partisan than "New Day," adding to speculation that Keilar won't be part of the soon-to-be overhauled program. 

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Another CNN insider said Licht's vision for the network was the right one. 

"You can do hard fair reporting on the Republican Party and Democratic Party without having commentators or hosts people view as overly hacky," they said.  

Licht took over earlier this year shortly after the wrenching departure of Zucker, whose tenure saw CNN take a leftward lurch in its coverage and become known for its mutual antagonism with Donald Trump and his supporters. 

Stelter thanked Licht for allowing him one final show before his exit, but he struck a defiant tone in a closing episode monologue, saying his values weren't "partisan."

"I know it's not partisan to stand up for decency and democracy and dialogue," Stelter said. "It's not partisan to stand up to demagogues. It's required. It's patriotic."

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He said the media wasn't the "enemy of the people," an unveiled retort to Trump's harsh language about the press, and, though Stelter was often criticized for his unbridled defense of mainstream and liberal media outlets, he called on viewers to hold press outlets "accountable."