77 WABC owner John Catsimatidis has overseen an impressive rebirth of the venerable New York news/talk station. Now, he’d like to have the opportunity to do the same with CNN.
During an appearance on Sid and Friends in the Morning, Catsimatidis shared his interest in owning the network.
“It’s up to the investment bankers to come up with the numbers,” Catsimatidis said of a potential sale price. “We could always bring partners in, but I want to run the place. We are capable of putting down a substantial amount of money.”
He then shared his interest in being the CEO of the cable network and said his salary wouldn’t be an issue.
“I’d go run the place tomorrow morning, and all I’d want is $1 per year and a piece of the upside,” Catsimatidis said, arguing he’d be able to double CNN’s profits.
Despite being let go as the network’s CEO earlier this week, Catsimatidis argued that Chris Licht “at least tried to do the right thing” in his strategy to move the network to a more centrist position in the political landscape.
The 77 WABC owner argued that CNN “deserves” to be #1 in the ratings and that Ted Turner “created a wonderful network” that has fallen on hard times.
