James Earl Jones has re-claimed his job as the voice of CNN.
After a long absence, Jones is back saying “This is CNN” in his Darth Vader voice, reports MSN . The Oscar-nominee’s voice was used on the network for years during commercial breaks, but hasn’t been used for some time. The famous soundbite is back, thanks to Jeff Zucker.
The new CNN Worldwide chief apparently told the marketing department that it was time to dust off the bit and start using it again, reports The New York Times . A spokesperson later confirmed that Jones’s voice had indeed been re-licensed.
Zucker’s first official day at work was Monday, the same day as the presidential inauguration. The network featured the “This is CNN” tagline once again.
CNN’s rating have been dropping in recent years, which has caused network executives to figure out a way to re-brand their image. Though they’ve been considered something of a middle-ground network compared to rivals Fox and MSNBC, the latter two have outperformed CNN on every measurement.
Jones, ironically, admitted in an interview last summer that he favors MSNBC himself.
“I’m always on MSNBC,” Jones said. “I can’t get enough of it. I even venture into the right-wing talk shows sometimes.”
Maybe James Earl Jones will change his mind now that he’s a part of CNN again. Either way, get used to hearing this again:
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