Chris Licht, the former television producer who oversaw a short and chaotic run as chairman of CNN, is on the network.
David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent company, informed staff on Wednesday morning that he had met Mr. Licht and that he would be leaving effective immediately.
The 13-month run of Mr. Light at CNN was marked by one controversy after another. He got off to a rocky start even before he officially started, as he oversaw the shutdown of the expensive CNN+ streaming service at the request of the network’s new owners, who were skeptical of a standalone digital product. The cuts led to dozens of layoffs.
“It didn’t work out for a number of reasons, and that’s a shame,” said Mr. Zaslav according to a recording of his comments. “It’s a real shame, and that’s ultimately my fault. And I take full responsibility for that.”
“This job was never going to be easy, especially in a time of great disruption and transformation,” he continued. “Chris has put his heart and soul into this job. Like all of you, he was in the line of fire and he’s taken a lot of beating. We appreciate his efforts, his passion, his love for journalism and his love for this profession.”
Mr. Zaslav said a temporary group of leaders — CNN veterans Amy Entelis, Virginia Moseley and Eric Sherling, as well as newly appointed chief operating officer, David Leavy — would take over before a permanent leader was installed. He said the process could take several months.
Mr. Licht’s departure represents a dramatic fall not long after he left as executive producer of Stephen Colbert’s top-rated late night show and vowed to bring a middle ground to CNN’s journalism. When Mr. Licht took the job, he told friends it was a “calling.”
The job would prove to be much more difficult. Ratings plummeted during Mr. Licht’s management, and a series of programming errors — including an ill-fated morning show co-anchored by Don Lemon, as well as hosting a town hall with former President Donald J. Trump that was subject to scathing criticism — did not. little support from his colleagues.
The situation took a turn for the worse last week when The Atlantic published a 15,000-word profile extensively documenting Mr. Licht’s tempestuous tenure, including criticism of the network’s coverage of the pandemic that baffled the network’s backers.
Further worsening was CNN’s financial performance. The network generated $750 million in profit last year, including one-time losses from the CNN+ streaming service, down from $1.25 billion the year before.
Mr. Licht’s abrupt departure is the latest hit in a tumultuous era for the network.
In December 2021, primetime anchor Chris Cuomo was fired amid an ethics scandal involving his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Two months later, the network’s longtime CEO Jeff Zucker was fired for failing to disclose a relationship with a colleague, senior executive Allison Gollust, who was also fired within weeks of Mr. Zucker’s departure.
It didn’t help Mr. Licht that, even after his departure, Mr. Zucker enjoyed widespread loyalty from top anchors and regular employees. Once employees began to sour Mr. Licht, Mr. Zucker turned into a quasi-complaint center for frustrated employees.
Puck previously reported that Mr. Light would be leaving CNN.
This is an evolving story. Check back later for updates.
