Television news has seen some shakeups at the top this year. CNN Chief Executive Chris Licht resigned in June after only 13 months, and NBC News President Noah Oppenheim left the network in January.
Now, as of Sunday, CBS News has seen its president suddenly depart after two years.
Neeraj Khemlani, the outgoing president, announced his decision in a Sunday memo to staffers.
“I have some news to share today, and I don’t want to bury the lede,” Khemlani said in a memo obtained by CNN. “After an exhilarating run, and before the next season starts, I’ve decided to step back from my current role and start a new exciting chapter.”
Khemlani later elaborated that the next chapter is a “multi-year, multi-platform first look deal with CBS to develop content,” including “documentaries, scripted series and books for Simon & Schuster.”
The network took a whole day to name a successor, and it went without interim leadership at first. In other words, Khemlani appears to have left the network suddenly, without a plan for the transition.
To replace Khemlani, CBS News eventually picked Wendy McMahon, who was previously serving as co-president with Khemlani.
“At every turn since joining CBS, Wendy has used her unique skill set as an innovator, business operator and people leader to energize operations, support our best-in-class journalism and position CBS for its multiplatform future,” CBS President and CEO George Cheeks said in a statement to Axios.
Khemlani and McMahon took over for retiring President Susan Zirinsky in 2021… and Zirinsky herself had only served as president for two years, despite her long tenure as producer.
Khemlani’s tenure was a mixed bag. As president, Khemlani oversaw the hiring of big-name reporters like Robert Costa. On the other hand, Khemlani was also the subject of a human resources probe earlier this year, according to CNN.
CBS News airs big-name programs 60 Minutes and Face the Nation, the latter of which is consistently the most-watched newscast on Sundays.
However, CBS News has seen less success in its daily programs like CBS Mornings and CBS Evening News.
Overall, CBS has usually finished dead last among the big three networks, both before and during Khemlani’s tenure.
The Horn editorial team