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

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

Shares of the corporate jumped greater than 5%.

While Warner Bros. Discovery seeks a substitute for Licht, executives Amy Entelis, Virginia Moseley, Eric Sherling and David Leavy will lead CNN, the corporate said.

“We’ve got great confidence on this group and can fully support them until a recent CEO is called,” Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said in a memo to staff on Wednesday, adding the corporate can be conducting a search internally and externally for CNN’s next leader. “We’re in good hands, allowing us to take the time we’d like to run a thoughtful and thorough seek for a recent leader.”

Licht’s departure got here as he faced a insurrection amongst CNN’s talent and staff. His tenure, which effectively began when he eliminated the network’s expensive CNN+ streaming service, was riddled with programming missteps and rock-bottom rankings.

“I even have known Chris for a few years and have enormous respect for him, personally and professionally. 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,” Zaslav said in his memo. “Unfortunately, things didn’t work out the way in which we had hoped – and ultimately that is on me. I take responsibility.”

Licht drew heated criticism in recent weeks after the network hosted a town hall with Donald Trump that was filled with scores of the previous president’s cheering fans. While the event drew 3.3 million viewers, CNN’s rankings plummeted afterward. Two days after the town hall, CNN’s prime-time viewership got here in below right-wing outlet Newsmax, a much smaller network.

Nevertheless it was an unflattering 15,000-word profile of Licht in The Atlantic – titled “Contained in the Meltdown at CNN” – that might need 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 pleased with the article and the aftermath.

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

The move was intended to permit 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.

Licht didn’t immediately reply to CNBC’s request for comment.

Read Zaslav’s memo to staff:

All,

This morning we’re announcing that Chris Licht will probably be leaving CNN and we will probably be conducting a large search, internally and externally, for a recent leader. I wanted you to listen to this news directly from me because it impacts you and your teams. 

I even have known Chris for a few years and have enormous respect for him, personally and professionally. 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 didn’t work out the way in which we had hoped – and ultimately that is on me. I take responsibility. Useless to say, we appreciate Chris’ efforts and dedication and need him all one of the best.

We’ve got put in place a solid transition plan with the appointment of an acting leadership team made up of experienced programming executives… Amy Entelis, EVP, Talent & Content Development, Virginia Moseley, EVP, Editorial, and Eric Sherling, EVP, U.S. Programming, together with David Leavy, COO, on the industrial side. We’ve got great confidence on this group and can fully support them until a recent CEO is called. We’re in good hands, allowing us to take the time we’d like to run a thoughtful and thorough seek for a recent leader. I recognize that changes like this could be stressful and appreciate your continued patience as we move through this process. 

You have heard me say it again and again: CNN has the best journalists on the planet… we’re deeply committed to supporting them and the critical work that CNN does every single day. We must get this right – and we are going to!

David

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