CNN chief Chris Licht out after turbulent year

By Alperen Aktas

ISTANBUL (AA) - Chris Licht, the CEO of CNN, left the company after just 13 months on the job.

Warner Bros Discovery, the parent company of CNN, confirmed his departure.

In a meeting with CNN employees, Warner Bros Discovery boss David Zaslav said: “I met with Chris and he will be leaving CNN."

Zaslav said he has great respect for Chris, “personally and professionally."

"The job of leading CNN was never going to be easy, especially at a time of huge disruption and transformation, and he has poured his heart and soul into it,” he said.

CNN experienced a turbulent year with Licht's departure as the culmination. It was marked by layoffs, declining profits, low ratings, the firing of two anchors, and demoralized employees.

This chaos followed other blows to the organization, including the removal of former leader Jeff Zucker and the closure of CNN+ streaming service.

For his part, Licht​​​​​​​ said: “This was an exciting but incredibly challenging assignment and I learned a lot over the past 13 months.”

“I’ve been lucky enough to have had a successful, fulfilling career and I look forward to my next chapter. I wish the team at CNN the very best, always,” he said.

Licht took up his role in May 2022.

Previously, he held key positions at CBS and MSNBC.