(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Financially troubled CNN is fleeing its longtime downtown Atlanta, Georgia headquarters in order to take up residence in the suburbs, the Washington Examiner reported.
The news comes as the network faces flagging ratings and deepening financial troubles, despite its recent hire of RINO ex-Rep. Adam Kinzinger as a political consultant.
For at least three years, rumors have swirled that the network, founded in 1978 by media mogul Ted Turner, might try to unload its flagship former headquarters.
CNN previously announced that would leave the old CNN Center in search of greener pastures at the Warner Bros. Discovery’s Techwood Turner Broadcasting campus, north of the city.
Former CNN President Tom Johnson, who left the network in 2001, lamented the decision
“I am heartbroken,” he said, mourning the loss of the CNN logo atop the tower.
“So many of my friends tell me how they’re going to miss that wonderful CNN logo on top of CNN Center. It just meant so much to us.”
According to a TVNewser report, the move has already begun and will be complete by the end of 2023. The corporation has already moved its master control operations to the new location.
The Techwood campus houses numerous other cable networks, such as TBS, TNT, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network and truTV.
After former CNN president Jeff Zucker left the network last year in the midst of a sex scandal that also touched on the ethical lapses of former primetime host Chris Cuomo, CNN has taken several measures to shake up its lineup and, to some extent, shed its image as a left-wing propaganda mouthpiece.
But it continues to dwell in the gutter in the ratings war with Fox News, while running neck-and-neck with top left-wing competitor MSNBC.
Things are so bad that new CEO Chris Litch posted security guards outside his office during recent layoff announcements.
Adding an additional layer of drama, CNN is departing the building that it all but encouraged violent mobs to burn down in the summer of 2020, when its headquarters came under siege as part of the race riots triggered by the death of George Floyd.
At the time, the looters vandalized its iconic sign with profane graffiti and hurled bricks through its glass entrance.
As the building was attacked, the WarnerMedia-owned outlet was forced to rely on the very police who were being blamed for the insurrections to defend its property interests.
