As traditional TV networks grapple with various delivery challenges including streaming, CBS is combining its news operation and CBS Television Stations into one division.
The single division will be comanaged by Neeraj Khemlani and Wendy McMahon who were named presidents and co-heads by CBS, and are expected to assume their responsibilities in a month.
Cheeks said that Khemlani and McMahon “have the leadership background and cross-platform accomplishments that cover all these important areas, and they share our commitment for supporting superior journalism, optimal delivery platforms and the strongest of organizational cultures.”
Susan Zirinsky, the current president of CBS News, will stay in her post until the new arrangement. She is in discussions for a role at a new CBS News Content Studio that will be launched later this year. Reports surfaced earlier this week that Zirinsky, who first joined the network in 1972, planned to step down and return to producing.
The new division will include CBS News’ streaming platform, CBSN, which has 10 local platforms plus the network which owns 28 stations in 17 major markets.
