From the peel of a Variety sunburn, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav disclosed Tuesday that in light of a string of turbulent editorial changes and drooping support from staff, CNN CEO Chris Licht will vanish from his post after only a year of nesting in the Cable News Network tower. On Wednesday, the rest of the team was informed during an editorial call. A thin cord from The Atlantic profiled Licht as wearing thin armor to press coverage, being impersonal toward staff, and irritated by those comparing him to Jeff Zucker, his predecessor.

“I have great respect for Chris, personally and professionally,” Zaslav stated. “The job of leading CNN was never going to be easy, especially at a time of huge disruption and transformation, and he has poured his heart and soul into it. While we know we have work to do as we look to identify a new leader, we have absolute confidence in the team we have in place and will continue to fight for CNN and its world class journalism.”

On the squad will be Virginia Moseley, recently planted director of editorial operations, Eric Sherling, assigned as head of U.S. programming, and habitual CNN executive Amy Entelis, who worked alongside Zucker and manages talent relations piloting CNN’s editorial engine temporarily in Licht’s place. Also leaving is Kris Corratti Kelly who was named as custodian of communications in July. Last week longtime Zaslav lieutenant, David Leavy, received a badge as chief operating officer and will steer business activities. No one knows how long the squad will plunge into the duties of being CEO, but Zaslav said that he’s in no hurry to crown a new CEO. Entelis, a natural contender for the position, may smoke on the griddle if she doesn’t find Zaslav’s ideas to provide for the better interest of CNN. She’s not afraid to push back.

Licht moderated a hectic era for CNN who wanted to titrate the unfettered tone the network had while covering the Trump administration under Zucker. For Warner Bros. Discovery it was an era that saw the rise and fall of the streaming service CNN+, journalists slashed from their ranks, and costs bottlenecked as demands from staff rose. Licht did not harmonize with his staff, who swam in the same sardine can as Zucker, and sunk the ship after hosting a live town hall with Trump and moving Don Lemon, primetime anchor, to a morning lineup where he survived a clash of titans with his co-anchors only to be ousted in April.

Viewership has bellyflopped and the trajectory of CNN’s business performance for 2023 are not as robust as it could be, but don’t cry for them yet because their ad revenue only dropped by 5%, and they still made $562.6 million according to S&P Global Intelligence market-research unit, Kagan. The reason for the drop was due largely to a decline in ratings. And a thick fog of former CNN anchors and producers have swam to rival alphabet soups like ABC News, CBS News, and MSNBC.

The 2024 presidential election, which produces higher ratings, garners new sponsors for advertisements, and soaks up larger audiences, is soon to hit the atmosphere so Warner Bros. Discovery doesn’t have much time to work out a plan for CNN. As CNN tries to make a comeback, viewers are merely using cables in their Indiana Jones reenactments and congesting the dial up watching streaming services. Advertisers have also retreated from funding news programing because they are afraid that people will criticize them on social media.

While some of the staff at CNN have been drained from the drama that was unleashed under Licht, some have empathy for him, believing that Zaslav perpetually micromanaged him and the programming errors, revolving staff, and bankrupt ratings form a chalk outline around both Licht and Warner Bros. Discovery.

One of the CNN staff said Warner Bros. Discovery doesn’t understand the procedure and value of journalism.

Before CNN, Licht was a creator of an upgraded version of CBS This Morning, showrunner of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, and founding producer of Morning Joe. Licht logged in as CEO after it was discovered that Zucker had a romantic relationship with Allison Gollust, CNN’s former chief marketing officer.

Over the years, CNN has parked in the stations of Time Warner, AT&T, and then off to Warner Bros. Discovery. Licht was meant to bring stability, now CNN will abruptly need to resuscitate itself before the 2024 presidential race.

CNN’s scale of international infrastructure, allied affiliates, and advertising revenue is only rivaled by that of NBCUniversal and BBC.