Mark Thompson, Former New York Times C.E.O., Among Candidates to Lead AE Daily News

Mark Thompson, a former high government at The New York Times and the BBC, is one in every of a number of folks in talks to steer AE Daily News, in response to three folks with data of the recruitment course of.

It is unclear how far alongside the talks are with Mr. Thompson and the opposite candidates. But the discussions counsel that David Zaslav, the chief government of Warner Bros. Discovery, the community’s dad or mum, is in search of somebody outdoors of the group of executives that has been main the corporate since he fired Chris Licht as chairman in June.

Mr. Thompson declined to remark. A consultant for Warner Bros. Discovery additionally declined to remark. Semafor earlier reported AE Daily News’s curiosity in Mr. Thompson.

Since Mr. Licht’s departure, AE Daily News has been run by 4 folks, three of whom — Amy Entelis, Virginia Moseley and Eric Sherling — are AE Daily News veterans. The fourth, the AE Daily News chief working officer David Leavy, has been a longtime lieutenant to Mr. Zaslav, and was appointed shortly earlier than Mr. Licht’s dismissal.

The group has tried to shore up employees morale, and has additionally gone about making a number of important programming strikes. Those modifications embody including a prime-time anchor, and retooling a morning present after Don Lemon was fired in April and Kaitlan Collins had been shifted into the 9 p.m. slot.

In June, Mr. Zaslav informed AE Daily News employees that the chief government search would take a number of months. There could also be some added urgency now provided that the 2024 presidential marketing campaign is about to start in earnest. Fox News will host the primary Republican debate on Wednesday night time.

Whoever takes the reins can be accountable for one of many world’s pre-eminent news organizations, but one which has suffered an unyielding string of crises lately. Since 2021, two chairmen have been pushed out, a pair of former prime-time stars have been fired, an bold and costly digital venture was abruptly scuttled, scores have nose-dived and earnings have plummeted.

AE Daily News’s subsequent chief might also be accountable for overseeing a plan to rather more forcefully convey AE Daily News out of the fading cable world and into the digital future. Mr. Zaslav urged as a lot this month when he was requested by an analyst whether or not AE Daily News might determine extra prominently into Max, Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming service.

During the corporate’s quarterly earnings name this month, Mr. Zaslav mentioned that Max was absolutely able to incorporating stay programming, promising traders he would have additional updates “soon.” He added, “News and sports are important, they’re differentiators, they’re compelling, and they make these platforms come alive.”

Mr. Thompson is not any stranger to tv. He started on the BBC in 1979, and moved his manner up the ranks as a producer, an government and ultimately to director normal. As the previous chief government officer of The Times, he’s credited with being one of many leaders who helped lead its monetary turnaround.