Jon Stewart To Buy CNN? Comedian Launches LetsBuyCNN.com Fake $10B Kickstarter Campaign

Jon Stewart’s disdain for CNN is no secret to anyone who watches “The Daily Show.” Now that the 24-hour cable news network might be up for sale if Rupert Murdoch succeeds in buying Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC), Stewart launched a tongue-in-cheek bid to buy CNN for $10 billion with a mock Kickstarter campaign.

Stewart announced the campaign Tuesday on “The Daily Show,” saying the potential $10 billion price tag for CNN is “a lot of money for anyone, but not a lot of money for everyone.” He then persuaded viewers to head to LetsBuyCNN.com -- a website styled as a Kickstarter campaign that promises funders everything from the chance to host a CNN anchor “Hunger Games” fight to the death ($1 billion donation) to taking Molly with Fareed Zakaria ($25,000).

Murdoch might have to sell Time Warner-owned CNN if he buys the news channel’s parent company because he already owns competitor Fox News.

“If Rupert Murdoch buys Time Warner, CNN will be for sale! So let’s buy it and and … do something with it. We’re not sure yet,” Stewart says on LetsBuyCNN.com.

“CNN, America’s first 24-hour cable news network, has been terrible for many, many years,” the comedian continues. “Does it have to be that way? Who knows, maybe it does. So let’s find out for ourselves! The $10 billion, all-cash bid for CNN would secure control of a massive television network reaching over 100 million homes in the U.S. alone, which we could then use to rebuild a news organization befitting this proud land. Or more likely we’ll use it to make a lot more poop jokes. Either way, you get to watch!”