JOE CONCHA: CNN’s collapse is now complete.

In the spring of 2020, the country was in a horrific place. Businesses shut completely; people were scared. There were no COVID therapeutics, no vaccines. Hospitals ​were overwhelmed, thousands were dying ​each day. If ​ever there was a time for news organizations to educate and inform the public, this was it.

Instead, Zucker apparently believed it was the perfect time to exploit the situation for political gain and to help the network’s ratings.

Andrew Cuomo benefitted from briefings that made him​ appear to be the adult in the room ​regarding COVID and Trump ​appear to be the villain. ​Cuomo got a $5.1 million book deal as a result.

Chris Cuomo and Zucker/Gollust/CNN benefitted from marathon interviews with ​Cuomo’s governor/brother, which didn’t touch the governor’s alleged nursing home scandal. Ratings soared.

So, was Zucker’s departure ​simply about a consensual relationship with a co-worker? One might be forgiven for questioning that.

Moving forward, what’s next for CNN when the company falls under the Discovery Channel umbrella later this year? Let’s hear from its soon-to-be largest shareholder, John Malone of Liberty Media.

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“I would like to see CNN evolve back to the kind of journalism that it started with, and actually have journalists, which would be unique and refreshing,” Malone said in an interview that recently aired on CNBC.

The collapse of CNN is now complete: Nine-out-of-ten viewers, gone. Its top-rated anchor, ​Chris Cuomo, gone. Its network president, gone. Its integrity in shambles.

Zucker was always an entertainment guy, not a news guy — and he wasn’t all that successful producing entertainment.

I’ve never understood why he was brought in to run CNN, but I can’t argue with the results.