Chris Licht appointed as new CNN chief to replace Zucker

By DAVID BAUDER
AP Media Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Chris Licht, who has been late-night host Stephen Colbert’s top producer since 2016, was appointed the new chairman and CEO of CNN. Licht will replace Jeff Zucker, who was forced out as CNN chief earlier this month for not revealing his romantic relationship with a CNN marketing executive to his superiors. Licht has a news background, working as the top producer at “CBS This Morning” and “Morning Joe” prior to getting into late-night television. He was appointed by Discovery chief executive David Zaslav, pending the expected approval of Discovery’s takeover of CNN parent company WarnerMedia. Licht said in a statement that he’s looking forward to getting back to his journalism roots.