CNN Programming Chief Michael Bass, A Longtime Jeff Zucker Lieutenant, To Exit The Network At End Of Year

deadline.com:

Michael Bass, EVP of programming at CNN, is leaving the network at the end of the year. News of his departure was shared with employees this morning by CNN CEO Chris Licht, who is in the midst of an extensive effort to reorganize and reorient the news network.

A network rep confirmed the move to Deadline. (Read Licht’s memo to staff below.) Licht arrived in the top job soon after the close of WarnerMedia’s $43 billion merger with Discovery, with the combined company needing to cut cost and streamline in order to pay down its sizable debt.

In addition to sorting out the headcount and budget of the retooled network, Licht is charting a different course than his predecessor, Jeff Zucker, who drove CNN’s leftward direction and frequent clashes with former President Donald Trump.

Ratings have flagged since the inauguration of President Joe Biden and CNN has also faced a challenge in primetime since former host Chris Cuomo left under an ethical cloud.