CNN's Jeff Zucker opens can of whoop-ass on Fox News: 'It's really state-run TV -- a pure propaganda machine'

CNN President Jeff Zucker on Thursday blasted rival network Fox News, which he called "state-run TV."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Zucker made the remarks at a Financial Times event on Thursday.

Zucker observed that there had been a "shocking" change at Fox after the unceremonious departure of former chief Roger Ailes, who was ousted during a sexual harassment investigation.

"There are a handful of good journalists there, but I think they are lost in what is a complete propaganda machine," Zucker noted. He added the suggestion that Fox News "has nothing on" the Russian government-run TASS Russian News Agency.

"The idea that it's a news channel, I think, is really not the case at all," Zucker quipped.

The CNN chief called the current media environment "the hey day of cable news."

"All the cable news channels are doing incredibly well as different forms of TV decline," he opined. "Those that have lives sports and news have thrived. There's no question: live news and cable is probably one of the only genres that's grown. Everybody's doing well, including Fox News."