• by Wayne Friedman , June 7, 2023

Embattled CNN chief executive Chris Licht has departed from the Warner Bros. Discovery news channel.

No reason was given for the move. As Licht steps down from his position as chairman/CEO of CNN Worldwide, Warner Bros. Discovery is searching for a replacement.

While it seeks a replacement, Warner Bros. Discovery says CNN will be led by Amy Entelis,executive vice president of talent and content development; Virginia Moseley, executive vice president of editorial, and Eric Sherling, executive vice president vice president of US programming, as well as David Leavy, chief operating officer, who will focus on the commercial side of the business.

This comes after a highly critical article was written in The Atlantic about his leadership and in the wake of a series of controversial moves including the airing of a Town Hall meeting featuring the former President Donald Trump.

Licht held the position for a year, as CNN in the U.S. continues to see ratings weakness -- at 416,000 average prime-time viewers in May, further back from top-ranked Fox News Channel (1.42 million).

Conservative-focused Newsmax is gaining (298,000 viewers) -- just 120,000 viewers behind CNN.

Recently, Licht apologized to the company's staff with regard to The Atlantic article -- which called into question Licht's judgment and observations. Licht had made critical remarks that disparaged CNN's journalism. In one instance, Oliver Darcy, media reporter for CNN, wrote on CNN.com that "the network's health unit... has been infuriated by the attacks he leveled against the outlet’s Covid-19 coverage."

From June 2022 to June 2023, CNN in the U.S. totaled $784.5 million in national TV advertising revenue -- down 6% from the same period the year before, according to EDO Ad EnGage.