Will Jeff Zucker's Experience Revamp CNN? Phil Kent Thinks So

Former NBCUniversal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker is the new president of CNN Worldwide, and the guys and girls behind the scenes are hoping his experience in journalism combined with a deep knowledge of TV will spark a comeback against their biggest rivals, The Wall Street Journal reports. 

"I wanted somebody who had a really deep experience in television news, who really understood cable," Phil Kent, the chief executive of Time Warner's Turner cable network unit said in an interview, "What he was great at was developing talent, attracting talent and retaining talent. And the quality of the output at NBC News, and the NBC News cable networks, spoke for themselves." Mr. Zucker, 47 years old, succeeds Jim Walton, who announced in July he would step down at the end of the year. "News is about more than just politics and war," he said, adding, "In order to stay relevant in the times when there is not breaking news, we have to understand that news can be defined in different ways," he continues. 

In an interview on Thursday Mr. Zucker suggested that CNN ought to hold on to its neutral news brand while expanding the definition of what counts as news. "News is about more than just politics and war," he said, adding, "In order to stay relevant in the times when there is not breaking news, we have to understand that news can be defined in different ways."