Chris Licht, the embattled chief executive and chairman of CNN, is out after just 13 months in charge of the failing network.
“I met with Chris and he will be leaving CNN,” David Zaslav, the chief executive of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, told CNN employees at the start of the day today.
Zaslav said the interim leadership team will be comprised of Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent and content development; Virginia Moseley, executive vice president of editorial; and Eric Sherling, executive vice president of U.S. programming.
David Leavy, who was recently named chief operating officer, will continue overseeing the company’s business activities.
“I have great respect for Chris, personally and professionally,” Zaslav said.
“The job of leading CNN was never going to be easy, especially at a time of huge disruption and transformation, and he has poured his heart and soul into it.
“While we know we have work to do as we look to identify a new leader, we have absolute confidence in the team we have in place and will continue to fight for CNN and its world class journalism.”
Warner Brothers issued a press release that said:
Warner Bros. Discovery (Nasdaq: WBD) today announced that Chris Licht, Chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, has stepped down, effective immediately.
As the company undertakes an active search for a replacement, it has put in place a strong interim leadership team comprising seasoned programming leaders Amy Entelis, EVP of talent and content development, Virginia Moseley, EVP of editorial, and Eric Sherling, EVP of US programming, as well as David Leavy, chief operating officer, on the commercial side.
Licht assumed his position in May 2022, following a distinguished career in broadcast and network television, most recently as EVP of special programming at CBS and executive producer and showrunner for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
Prior to that, he was vice president of programming for CBS News and executive producer of the network’s morning news program, “CBS This Morning,” which he helped launch in 2012.
Prior to CBS, Licht was the co-creator and original executive producer of MSNBC’s popular morning news show, “Morning Joe.”
BREAKING: CNN CEO Chris Licht to step down https://t.co/5OfYxPWGBI
— Axios (@axios) June 7, 2023
Was it something we said yesterday about Licht #NerdAvengershttps://t.co/hiHIwHC15X
— Jen Taub (@jentaub) June 7, 2023
Here is @TimAlberta‘s piece on Chris Licht: https://t.co/96vTmC0bu6
— Jeffrey Goldberg (@JeffreyGoldberg) June 7, 2023
