Wendy McMahon has been elevated at CBS, placed in charge of the company’s CBS News, local stations and syndicated production, now all combined under her aegis.
McMahon takes sole oversight of programs ranging from “CBS Evening News” and “60 Minutes” to “Wheel of Fortune” and “The Drew Barrymore Show,” suggesting CBS and its parent Paramount Global see new opportunities to wring synergy from programming that has typically been managed separately.
“At every turn since joining CBS, Wendy has used her unique skill set as an innovator, business operator and people leader to energize operations, support our best-in-class journalism and position CBS for its multiplatform future,” said George Cheeks, CEO of CBS. “She is a dynamic leader with clear vision who generates forward momentum in every business she touches. I’m excited for the future of CBS News, our local stations and our valuable syndication franchises under her leadership.”
Other companies have been placed management over similar assets. At Disney’s ABC, for example, managers at ABC News supervise “The View” and the daily talk show “Tamron Hall.”
The moves comes as Paramount Global continues to navigate uncertain waters. The company is not nearly as large as rivals like Netflix, Amazon or Disney and yet must contend with them as it seeks to court viewers who are moving away from traditional linear TV and more towards on-demand streaming.
McMahon joined CBS in 2021, after a stint overseeing, the ABC Owned Television Stations Group. She had direct responsibility for the Walt Disney Company’s eight broadcast stations, local newsrooms and streaming assets, as well as oversight of the 1,500 team members. During her time at CBS, she has focused on bolstering the quality of the news operations at local stations and expanding their presence in streaming. She helped launch a new seven-hour news block in Los Angeles and encouraged the stations and CBS News to team up in certain instances.
McMahon is consolidating responsibilities once assigned to three different executives. She had been working with Neeraj Khemlani as co-president of CBS News and stations. Khemlani announced yesterday that he would step down from the role in favor of working on a new production deal. Steve LoCascio, meanwhile, has announced plans to retire at the end of the year.
“It’s an honor to be entrusted to lead as venerated an organization as CBS News, and I’m inspired to continue to support the world’s greatest journalists at this critical moment for our profession. I’m also excited to work with the No. 1 team in first-run syndication at CBS Media Ventures,” McMahon said in a statement. “I am fortunate to have thousands of talented, dedicated colleagues across these teams to continue the top-notch journalism and productions our viewers expect from CBS.”
