CNN's Brian Stelter Refuses To Address Joe Scarborough & Mika Brzezinski's Possible Takeover As Ratings Continue To Plummet
CNN's Brian Stelter is again glossing over a major story centered around his employer. The 36-year-old chief media correspondent failed to address the story RadarOnline.com broke — that CNN boss Chris Licht is desperately trying to poach Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski from MSNBC in hopes they will save the failing network.
Stelter ignored the story despite having inside knowledge and connections to the decision-makers. In his latest Reliable Sources newsletter, he made no mention of Scarborough and Brzezinski — instead, choosing to bypass the topic completely.
Insiders tell RadarOnline.com that if Scarborough and Brzezinski jump ship at MSNBC and join Licht at CNN, colleagues like Stelter "should be concerned," especially because his ratings continue to tank.
As this outlet reported, Stelter had his lowest-rated month since June 2001 in the younger A25-54 demo, averaging only 79,000 viewers in A25-54 and 585,000 in total viewers last month.
When Licht became the president of CNN in February, he vowed to shake things up on morning TV. We're told he believes the Morning Joe married duo can save the struggling network.
RadarOnline.com can report Licht is secretly poaching Scarborough and Brzezinski.
Licht has big plans for the couple... if they can get out of their MSNBC contracts.
"Joe would want to move outside of morning television as well. The idea of him as the network’s chief political analyst has been explored," our source revealed.
- New CNN Boss In Secret Talks To Poach MSNBC Stars Joe Scarborough And Mika Brzezinski To Fix Network’s Struggling Morning Timeslot
- Embattled CNN Anchor Brian Stelter Caught Red-Handed Sanitizing Coverage Of His Imminent Ouster
- Dumped CNN Anchor Brian Stelter Reportedly Labels Himself As A ‘Sacrificial Lamb’ After Firing
"In an ideal world, CNN would want him to also host the primetime hour that Chris Cuomo held but Chris (Licht) knows all too well the pitfalls of expecting talent to deliver in the morning and at night. The schedule would be too rigorous," the insider continued.
Licht has a history with Scarborough and Brzezinski, and we're told he wanted to bring them with him when he took over CNN.
“When CBS hired Chris, he wanted to hire Joe and Mika to head up his morning show instead of Gayle King. Joe and Mika were into it, but they couldn’t get out of their deal with NBC," another insider told RadarOnline.com. "Now Chris is pulling the same trick again as he starts his new job at CNN hoping this time, he will be able to pull it off."
As for Stelter, this isn't the first time he's failed to address a not-so-comfortable subject involving the network.
Following RadarOnline.com's bombshell exposé that blew the lid off former CNN honcho Jeff Zucker's inner-office affair, Stelter again ignored the issue.
Zucker was forced to resign earlier this year after he failed to disclose his office romance.
Powered by RedCircle