"Daily Show" host Jon Stewart has recently launched a fake Kickstarter campaign that aims to buy the 24-hour news cable, CNN.
The joke campaign is a response to business magnate Rupert Murdoch's unsolicited $80 million offer to buy CNN-owned Time Warner.
"If Rupert Murdoch buys Time Warner," Stewart said on LetsBuyCnn.com, "CNN will be for sale! So let's buy it and...and...do something with it. We're not sure what yet."
The estimated asking price for the TV news network is about $10 billion. According to Stewart, this "is a lot of money for anyone--but not a lot of money for everyone."
For those who contributed funds, the rewards of the fake campaign are as follows:
For $10, you'll be part of the "CNN 21 Box"; for $10,000, in the "CNN 6 Box"; and for $15,000, you'll be on the "Carol Costello 2 Box." For $25,000, you can take the drug "Molly" with Fareed Zakaria; for $5 million, a "24 Hour 2 Week Hunt for Your Lost Car Keys", and for 1 billion, "Host a CNN Anchor Hunger Games Fight to the Death," and a "Martin Savidge Couch Simulator" for a whopping $10 billion.
Crowdfundinsider.com reports that the day following Stewart's creation of the fake campaign on LetsBuyCNN.com, he took to the stage CNN reporter Fareed Zakaria for an interview. The host of "Fareed Zakaria GPS" joked to Stewart: "I'm a little nervous because I realize I might be speaking to my future boss. I hope that you end up getting CNN. I think it would be a fascinating challenge for you."
In the same article, Stewart hilariously announced that the campaign has reached over $150 billion, admitting: "Can I tell you something? Our fake Kickstarter to buy CNN is up to $150 billion now. When we charge their credit cards I have a feeling we'll be disappointed."
Meanwhile, Time Warner has reportedly rejected Murdoch's offer.
The New York Times reports: "Murdoch has built a global media juggernaut over nearly five decades spanning studios, television channels and newspapers, in part, by pursuing bold deals that were often rebuffed at first by the targets of his overtures, only to later acquiesce."
The report adds, however: "Murdoch is determined to buy Time Warner and is unlikely to walk away."
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