Report: CNN Pitching Piers Morgan as one of Network's 'Foundation Brands'

In an attempt to revive CNN’s slumping advertising revenue, a direct result of its last-place ratings, new CNN chief Jeff Zucker is reportedly doubling-down on Piers Morgan, making him one of the network’s “foundation brands.”

Morgan has exploited the Newtown tragedy to shamelessly push his anti-Second Amendment agenda on a near-nightly basis. Despite his sagging ratings, Zucker has decided to feature Morgan, along with old faces like Anderson Cooper and newcomer Anthony Bourdain, to try to get non-traditional advertising dollars.

Ad Age reports CNN will sell and market the network’s “foundation brands”–like Morgan, who was also featured in CNN’s “reintroduction”–to attract advertisers like BMW and MillerCoors. Both of those brands usually do not advertise on prime-time cable news shows but have bought time on Bourdain’s new weekend show.

According to reports, CNN’s audience has dropped 37 percent over the last six years. The network brands itself as the “most trusted name in news” while its anchors often show their partisan biases and advocate openly for liberal policies–like more gun control–and their poor ratings are finally catching up to them.

SNL Kagan, an independent research firm, told the Washington Post that CNN’s ad revenue fell 10 percent last year, which was stunning in a presidential election year when viewership and revenue at the network should have been peaking.

In an attempt to revive CNN’s slumping advertising revenue, a direct result of its last-place ratings, new CNN chief Jeff Zucker is reportedly doubling-down on Piers Morgan, making him one of the network’s “foundation brands.”

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