Chris Licht, chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, is out after his 13-month stint atop the news organization. He took over at CNN from Jeff Zucker, who had been fired for an undisclosed relationship, in April 2022.
Licht’s time at CNN was rocky, including overseeing the shutdown of CNN Plus and the controversial Donald Trump town hall on May 31. CNN noted “a series of severe missteps” in a story about Licht departing.
“I met with Chris and he will be leaving CNN,” David Zaslav, CEO of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, told CNN employees at the start of the network’s daily editorial call June 7.
The Atlantic published a lengthy profile on Licht and his tenure, entitled "Inside the Meltdown at CNN", June 2, which CNN described as “devastating.”
Licht had been executive producer of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS, and executive VP of special programming at the network, where he helped relaunch the morning news. He’d previously produced Morning Joe on MSNBC, which he co-created. He began his TV career in 1995 at KNBC Los Angeles.
Last week, David Leavy was named CNN chief operating officer. He will help run things until a new leader is named, along with Amy Entelis, executive VP, talent and content development; Virginia Moseley, executive VP, editorial; and Eric Sherling, executive VP, U.S. programming.
Puck News previously reported on Licht’s departure.
CNN generated $750 million in profit in 2022, according to The New York Times, down from $1.25 billion the year before, with the demise of CNN Plus a factor in 2022's diminished profit.
