CBS Restructures Top Management
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When it was announced that Wendy McMahon was leaving as the head of the ABC O&O’s, FTVLive told you not to be surprised if she wasn’t going to CBS.
Yesterday afternoon, the staff at CBS and their O&O’s got a memo telling them that McMahon is in fact joining CBS.
The memo from CBS CEO George Cheeks says that McMahon former Hearst Newspapers, Cable Networks & Digital Media Executive Neeraj Khemlani Wendy McMahon have been named presidents and co-heads of the newly formed division, which puts CBS News and the CBS Television stations under the same umbrella.
According to the network, McMahon and Khemlani, who will each assume their roles as presidents and co-heads of the new group early next month, will partner on managing all aspects of the division, bringing their wide range of broadcast, local and digital experience to their positions.
This marks a homecoming to CBS for both executives – Khemlani as a producer on 60 MINUTES and “60 Minutes II” for eight years while McMahon served seven years at WBZ Boston and WCCO Minneapolis.
What is interesting in all of this, ABC recently poached CBS News executive Kim Godwin to run the news division at ABC News.
Now, CBS has taken McMahon from ABC to do the same at CBS. It’s like they are shuffling the pieces around, but playing the same game.
Here is the internal memo sent to the staff at CBS and obtained by FTVLive:
CBS Team –
Over the past year, I’ve had the privilege of a front row seat to the award-winning journalism and broadcasts at CBS News, and the first-class local news we deliver to our communities. Our teams have also been strategizing about how we position these important businesses at a very transformative moment in media.
With this in mind, I have decided to combine CBS News and CBS Television Stations into one divisional and leadership structure. The unified division will bring together the power of CBS News, our 28 owned stations in 17 major U.S. markets, CBSN, our growing CBSN Local platforms, local websites and cbsnews.com under one roof, opening new opportunities and valuable paths to growth in the future. It will maximize the power of our newsgathering and production operations to serve audiences across all national, digital, local and global platforms.
The unified group will be led by two outstanding executives who are excited to be returning to CBS. Wendy McMahon and Neeraj Khemlani, who will each assume the role of President and Co-Head of the new division early next month, bring a wide range of broadcast, local and digital experience to partner on managing all aspects of the division.
Wendy rejoins CBS from her most recent position as President of the ABC Owned Television Stations, leading the group’s eight broadcast stations, local newsrooms and streaming assets, as well as its 1,500 team members. Neeraj is currently Executive Vice President and Deputy Group Head at Hearst Newspapers, overseeing print and digital operations at 24 dailies and 52 weeklies published by 3,000 employees. In their past CBS careers, Wendy was Creative Services Director at WBZ Boston and WCCO Minneapolis while Neeraj was a producer for “60 Minutes” and “60 Minutes II.” They are accomplished and experienced executives who have led large businesses and have spent their careers supporting great journalism.
As part of this news, our indefatigable President and Senior Executive Producer of CBS News Susan Zirinsky will continue in her role until Wendy and Neeraj are in place and will assist in the transition. We are also in discussions with Z for a significant role at a new CBS News Content Studio to be launched later this year. This content studio is another exciting part of reimagining our CBS News brand for the future. I look forward to sharing more about the studio in the days ahead.
I also want to thank Z for her unparalleled dedication to CBS, including her meaningful accomplishments leading the division the past two years. She took the reins at News in March 2019 at a moment of turmoil in the division, creating stability and renewing passion for the brand internally and externally. She elevated the powerful journalism and competitiveness of our flagship broadcasts, led the important coverage of the pandemic and historic election in 2020, established our Race & Culture Unit and most recently created brand extensions for “60 Minutes,” “48 Hours” and “CBS Sunday Morning” for Paramount+. In short, Z has helped position the division for success.
All of us are experiencing a business and content landscape where the wants and habits of our consumers evolve by the day. We need to transform with them to ensure every part of the organization and our talented colleagues are set up to succeed.
I am confident that Wendy and Neeraj are the right leaders for this business at this pivotal moment for the Company and our ever-changing industry. They will run this division as a team with each having specific areas of focus. We’ll have more specificity on this, including reporting structures, in the near future. I appreciate your willingness to share your knowledge and thoughts about each organization with them throughout their onboarding process.
I know change can be difficult, hard work. I also know that we are up to the challenge of helping chart a dynamic and successful future for these storied and valuable brands.
Please see the press release below which includes quotes from Neeraj and Wendy about how excited they are about this opportunity. Thank you as always for your passion and your dedication to your work and your colleagues.
George
