Chris Licht appointed as new CNN chief to replace Zucker

Chris Licht, who has been late-night host Stephen Colbert's top producer since 2016, was appointed the new chairman and CEO of CNN

NEW YORK -- CNN's future leader, Chris Licht, told network employees on Monday that he plans to “double-down on what's working well and quickly eliminate what's not.”

Discovery CEO David Zaslav announced that Licht, currently Stephen Colbert's top producer at CBS, will replace Jeff Zucker as head of CNN, likely in May. That's when Discovery's corporate takeover of Warner Media, CNN's parent company, is expected to be complete.

Prior to guiding Colbert's “Late Show” to the top of the late-night ratings, Licht ran “CBS This Morning” and helped develop “Morning Joe” on MSNBC with host Joe Scarborough.

“I am a journalist at heart,” Licht wrote in a memo to CNN employees on Monday. “While I have enjoyed every minute at the ‘Late Show,’ I am joining CNN because I feel a genuine pull to return to news at such a critical moment in history.”