Chris Licht, a veteran television producer who helped create “Morning Joe” at MSNBC and later successfully adapted the morning and night programming at CBS, will become CNN’s next leader, according to three people with direct knowledge of the decision.
Mr. Light, who is currently the executive producer of “Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” is poised to succeed Jeff Zucker, the CNN president whose nine-year tenure ended abruptly this month when he resigned over a secret romantic relationship with a fellow worker.
He is expected to join the network once its parent company, WarnerMedia, completes a merger with Discovery Inc., a deal that could close in April. Mr. Licht and David Zaslav, Discovery’s CEO, are professional and social friends who have known each other for over ten years.
A formal announcement is expected this week. Puck first broke the news about Mr. Licht’s selection.
Overseeing CNN — a sprawling news organization with a global presence, thousands of employees, and hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue — would be by far the biggest undertaking of Mr. Licht’s television career. And he joins the network in a time of turmoil.
The newsroom was engulfed by Mr. Zucker’s stunning departure, which forced great loyalty among anchors and correspondents. The primetime and morning ratings have tangled up in third place behind rivals Fox News and MSNBC. And the impending acquisition by Discovery raises questions about the future direction of the network.
Mr. Light is the co-creator of “Morning Joe,” the wildly successful MSNBC franchise that still dominates that network’s morning lineup. He jumped to CBS News in 2011, where he was widely credited with turning the fortunes of “CBS This Morning,” adding hosts Charlie Rose and Gayle King, and introducing a more talkative, freewheeling format.
In 2016, CBS enlisted Mr. Light to take over “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” which struggled in its early months to gain viewership and the critical praise enjoyed by Mr. Colbert’s predecessor, David Letterman.
Mr. Licht brought about a remarkable turnaround in ratings, encouraging Mr. Colbert to be more forceful on current events and political news. He added live shows after major news events such as election nights and State of the Union addresses. In 2017, Mr. Colbert accomplishes what Mr. Letterman rarely did in his long career: beating NBC’s “The Tonight Show” in the ratings, a winning streak that continues five years later.
