Still, Discovery placed Licht in a challenging situation with little pathway to success.

Licht inherited a diminished brand from Zucker. Ratings were on a steady decline before his arrival.

Conservatives had rightfully abandoned the network. Meanwhile, liberals rejected the less partisan edict that Licht’s bosses deployed him to install. …

The channel didn’t give Licht much to work with. And Anderson Cooper was its leading draw.

[True, but Licht didn’t have to take the job, either. If he saw the mandate as a dead end, he could have taken a pass or asked Warner/Discovery to rethink its strategy. FWIW, I agree with Burack that Licht made the right moves to execute that strategy, but I question the strategy itself. See my earlier post. — Ed]