Two years ago, CBS selected the ultimate insider to lead its broadcast news division: Susan Zirinsky, whose tenure on the network spanned decades into the days of Walter Cronkite.
Now the network is turning to two outsiders – one from the world of newspaper and digital publishing – to restore the fate of a news company that has lagged its rivals at ABC and NBC.
CBS said Thursday that Neeraj Khemlani, a vice president of Hearst publishing house, and Wendy McMahon, a former ABC executive, would succeed Ms. Zirinsky. The two will serve as presidents and co-directors of CBS News, a division that is being expanded to include local broadcasters on the network.
In the gossip world of television news, no executive has been rumored to be a candidate for the top CBS role.
Mr. Khemlani worked for CBS News from 1998 to 2006 as a producer on “60 Minutes”. He moved to Yahoo’s news division before taking on a number of executive positions at Hearst in 2009.
Like CBS, Hearst is a giant of the last century’s media empires, and Khemlani’s tenure has included digital partnerships and other efforts to modernize the company. Ms. McMahon is more into the broadcast business. In her last role, she oversaw ABC local broadcasters and newsrooms.
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April 15, 2021, 6:56 p.m. ET
“These are non-traditional decisions for non-traditional times,” said Andrew Heyward, President of CBS News from 1996 to 2005, in an interview.
Thursday’s announcement surprised many CBS News employees. George Cheeks, the executive director of CBS Entertainment Group who led the double appointment, made it clear in a memo on Thursday that he was aiming for some sort of transition.
“This is an opportunity to create a news and information structure that positions CBS for the future,” he wrote.
The two new executives contrast with Ms. Zirinsky, an experienced producer. As the first woman to run CBS News, she installed a new evening newscaster, Norah O’Donnell. the morning landlady Gayle King signed a new contract; and urged her team to chase shovels. Ratings haven’t shrunk too much during her tenure, but they haven’t grown too much either: CBS still ranks third on the morning and evening news.
Ms. Zirinsky is expected to take on a new production role in the network this year. Mr. Khemlani and Ms. McMahon are starting next month.
“I don’t think CBS News needs any help with journalism,” said Heyward, who is now a professor at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. “CBS will benefit from new thinking on how to reinvent itself for a new generation of news consumers with new consumer habits.”
Mr. Cheeks, who rose to his role as head of the CBS entertainment group in March 2020, marks the first time a vaunted news operation is being shaped. He is also trying to address a scandal that recently hit the CBS television group. Two top executives, Peter Dunn and David Friend, were put on administrative leave in January after accused of creating a hostile work environment and making derogatory remarks to black and female colleagues. Both were fired last week.
Journalists and producers from CBS News will now be reporting to two leading companies on both coasts. Mr. Khemlani will be based in New York, which is where the news division’s headquarters are located, and Ms. McMahon will be based in Los Angeles, although she is expected to work in both cities, a CBS spokesman said.
Mr. Cheeks believes in sharing top positions between executives and he has firsthand experience with this arrangement. He was named co-president of Universal Cable Productions with Dawn Olmstead in early 2018, and later that year he was named co-chair of NBC Entertainment with Paul Telegdy.
