CNN boss out after tumultuous term

Chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, Chris Licht, is departing, ending a tumultuous tenure as the first leader of the network under parent Warner Bros. Discovery.

Deadline reports Licht’s departure comes after a bombshell profile in The Atlantic infuriated staffers, already upset over the way that a recent town hall with President Donald Trump was handled.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav told staffers in CNN’s morning call that Licht was leaving and that a search was on for a new CEO. “It didn’t work out,” he said.

In a memo to staffers, Zaslav wrote, “This job was never going to be easy, especially at a time of great disruption and transformation, and Chris poured his heart and soul into it. He has a deep love for journalism and this business and that has been evident throughout his tenure. Unfortunately, things did not work out the way we had hoped – and ultimately that’s on me. I take responsibility.”

Licht has been with the network for just over a year, having had a series of successes in helping to launch Morning Joe on MSNBC, revitalise CBS’s morning show and then take the reins of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which overtook The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in the ratings.

Licht also faced continued troubles in trying to shore up CNN’s nighttime schedule. More troublesome for Licht was the support of the staff, many of whom were fiercely loyal to predecessor Jeff Zucker and wary of moves that looked by the network was moving to the right as a way to appease supporters of Donald Trump.

Licht believed that the network had drifted during the Trump years into that of an opposition voice, and when he took the helm he cut back on commentary in favor of playing up the network’s newsgathering. Republicans began to return to the network as guests, and Trump himself returned last month for a town hall.

That event, moderated by Collins, enraged network staffers, as viewers saw Trump being cheered on by the audience, as if he were at another rally.

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