CNN CEO Chris Licht out after Trump town hall fallout, brutal Atlantic article

Chris Licht is out at CNN after leading the news network for a little more than a year, parent company Warner Bros Discovery announced Wednesday morning.

The company said it is seeking a replacement. In the meantime, executives Amy Entelis, Virginia Moseley, Eric Sherling and David Leavy will lead CNN, the company said.

Licht’s departure came as he faced a rebellion among CNN’s talent and staff. His tenure, which effectively started when he eliminated the network’s expensive CNN+ streaming service, was riddled with programming missteps and rock-bottom ratings.

He drew even more heated criticism in recent weeks after the network hosted a town hall with Donald Trump that was packed with scores of the former president’s cheering fans. While the event drew 3.3 million viewers, CNN’s ratings plummeted afterward. Two days after the town hall, CNN’s primetime viewership came in below right wing outlet Newsmax, a much smaller network.

But it was an unflattering 15,000-word profile of Licht in The Atlantic – titled “Inside the Meltdown at CNN” – that might have sealed his fate. He apologized to staffers Monday morning, but top brass at CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, including CEO David Zaslav, weren’t happy with the article and the aftermath.

“I have great respect for Chris, personally and professionally,” Zaslav said in a news release. “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.”

The move comes soon after Leavy, a key Zaslav ally, was named the network’s new chief operating officer. Leavy was tasked with taking over marketing, public relations, advertising sales, facilities and other logistics.

The move was intended to allow Licht to focus more on programming. Licht helped launch MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” as its executive producer in 2007 and later became executive producer and showrunner of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on CBS.

Read Warner Bros. Discovery’s full release:

New York, NY – June 7, 2023 – 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.

“I have great respect for Chris, personally and professionally,” said David Zaslav, president and CEO, Warner Bros. Discovery. “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.”

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.”

Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of MSNBC and CNBC.