Could CNN boss Mark Thompson be headed back to London to save the BBC?
The Status newsletter reported on Tuesday that Thompson’s name has been bandied about in media circles as a possible candidate to return to the helm of the scandal-plagued British broadcaster.
The “Beeb” has been reeling in recent days from the sudden resignation of its top two news executives and a billion-dollar lawsuit threat from President Donald Trump.
A CNN rep told The Post on Wednesday that Thompson is “fully committed to his role as Chairman and CEO of CNN and remains firmly in that role.” Nonetheless, his future is far from certain.
Thompson, the British-born executive, ran the BBC from 2004 to 2012, steering the broadcaster through scandals and editorial breaches.
He then transformed the New York Times from a struggling print dinosaur into a digital juggernaut, growing paid digital subscriptions from half a million to nearly 5.7 million between 2012 and 2020.
His track record of rescuing legacy media organizations in crisis may be exactly what the BBC needs right now after the public broadcaster saw the resignation of two top executives.
Director General Tim Davie and CEO of News Deborah Turness both resigned dramatically on Sunday night, leaving a massive power vacuum at the top of the 102-year-old institution.
Their exits followed a firestorm over a BBC “Panorama” documentary that used a deceptively edited clip of Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021 speech.
The edit, which omitted Trump’s call for supporters “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard,” was exposed in a 19-page dossier by former BBC editorial adviser Michael Prescott.
Trump’s camp went nuclear on the London-based network, with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt blasting the BBC as “100% fake news” and a “propaganda machine.”
Trump’s lawyers followed up with a letter threatening a $1 billion lawsuit and giving the broadcaster a Friday deadline to issue a full retraction and an apology.
Meanwhile, anxiety is running high at CNN offices in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards as the future of the all-news network remains murky.
Warner Bros. Discovery — CNN’s parent company — put itself up for sale in October and plans to announce a deal or company split by Christmas.
That leaves Thompson, who took over CNN in 2023, in a precarious position. A new owner would likely install its own leadership, making the BBC job a potentially attractive landing spot for the network boss.
The feeding frenzy for WBD is already on. Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has made three separate offers for the company, with the latest a $23.50-per-share bid that WBD’s board has so far rejected.
Ellison is reportedly willing to go hostile, taking the offer directly to shareholders.
Comcast and Netflix have also shown interest in acquiring WBD’s studio and streaming assets, though they haven’t made formal offers.
Ellison, however, has a potential ace up his sleeve: Trump, who praised the Paramount chief on “60 Minutes” as a “great, new leader” for the media and whose administration could make it easier to gain regulatory approval for an acquisition.
The Post has sought comment from Warner Bros. Discovery and the BBC.
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