Licht out Entelis interim at CNN

3 views
Skip to first unread message

Steve Rhodes

unread,
Jun 7, 2023, 9:23:32 AM6/7/23
to wn...@googlegroups.com

Chris Licht, the former television producer who oversaw a brief and chaotic tenure as the chairman of CNN, is out at the network, according to a person briefed on the decision.



The Times story is just a few graphs so far.

First reported by Dylan Byers whose reporting Licht was obsessed with (the Atlantic story - https://archive.ph/5683K )


who also reports Amy Entelis will be the interim head (though she won't be alone - see further below):

 Now, after a year of leadership missteps, programming misfires, a disastrous Trumptown hall and the near-total decimation of staff morale in the wake of a chilling all-access Atlantic story, Licht will be vacating the C.E.O. position. In the next 48 hours, I’m told, Warner Bros. Discovery will announce that Licht will be stepping down as chairman and C.E.O. of CNN, ostensibly bringing an end to one of the most turbulent periods in the network’s 43-year history. 
Licht will be replaced for an interim period by Amy Entelis, the revered longtime CNN executive, talent whisperer and CNN Films chief who served as a loyal deputy for years to Licht’s predecessor, Jeff Zucker. Entelis, who is 72, will oversee all programming

which Kara Swisher suggested last night 

And has more on this morning



Licht scaled back CNN Films which is no longer buying outside films like Oscar winner Navalny, RBG, & Blackfish


I wonder what Jake (or whoever) will text Oliver who tweeted the news before CNN put it on TV


Oliver: Zaslav says that, effective immediately in the interim, the acting CNN leadership team is Amy Entelis, Virginia Mosely, and Eric Sherling. David Leavy will continue on business side as COO. "I have great confidence in this group," Zaslav says.

And Brian is tweeting the 9 am editorial meeting


Zaslav: The CEO search "will take months, because I think it's important that things settle down, and we've gotta get it right. We [will] find a great leader, from inside or outside, and off we go." Notably, Zaslav did not consider inside candidates when he picked Licht last year


Michael Bass, Amy Entelis and Ken Jautz were interim after Zucker was fired


It is 9:20 am & CNN still hasn't reported on TV Licht was fired.

Ukraine & Prince Harry are being teased as they go to commercial

__________________________________________________________

Steve Rhodes  - San Francisco

Photojournalist 

@tigerbeat twitter/Instagram   


danny burstein

unread,
Jun 7, 2023, 9:27:07 AM6/7/23
to wn...@googlegroups.com
On Wed, 7 Jun 2023, Steve Rhodes wrote:

> Chris Licht, the former television producer who oversaw a brief and chaotic
> tenure as the chairman of CNN, is out at the network, according to a person
> briefed on the decision.
......
> who also reports Amy Entelis will be the interim head (though she won't be
> alone - see further below):

If we all get together and lobby CNN, maybe we could
get them to hire...

***** David Bohrman *****

Steve Rhodes

unread,
Jun 7, 2023, 9:42:58 AM6/7/23
to wn...@googlegroups.com

Sent this a bit too soon

On Wed, Jun 7, 2023 at 6:23 AM Steve Rhodes <srh...@gmail.com> wrote:

It is 9:20 am & CNN still hasn't reported on TV Licht was fired.

Ukraine & Prince Harry are being teased as they go to commercial

When they came back, Kate Bolduan did a brief report on Licht leaving on CNN
News Central which she co-anchors with John Berman & Sara Sidner & was one of
Licht's attempts to change CNN


Oliver's story 


The Post like the Times has a story which is currently pretty brief 


One of the three bylines is Will Sommer who was recently hired from the Daily Beast

danny burstein

unread,
Jun 7, 2023, 11:22:10 AM6/7/23
to wn...@googlegroups.com
[full snip]

In other words, Licht:CNN as Jean Doumanian:SNL


_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dan...@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages