Television news may never have been more unstable six months before a presidential election.
ABC News is in the midst of a change, after its president announced Sunday night that she was leaving. CBS’s parent company is in the middle of a sale process, which could leave the news staff with a new owner. NBC is just weeks away from an on-air revolt in which prominent anchors questioned leadership. CNN employees are still adjusting to a new CEO, who promises a different direction.
Much of the challenge for television news divisions is, at its core, how to navigate a rapidly evolving business. Evening newscasts, prime-time cable shows, and morning shows continue to attract large audiences, but their audiences are steadily aging and declining.
Instead, viewers are flocking to less lucrative streaming services, leaving networks’ parent companies with less security. Networks are trying to invest in that future: building broadcast centers and hiring live talent and producers for their digital channels, all while keeping a close eye on traditional television, which remains a profitable business that helps finance those investments.
And all of this is happening as news organizations face one of the most difficult journalistic tasks: an especially divisive presidential race.
“At a time when television news organizations face one of their most significant challenges and responsibilities in covering a national election, they also face significant internal challenges,” said Andrew Heyward, a former president of CBS News who now works with a group of Investigators. from MIT who study the future of news. “The last thing they need is internal disorder.”
Many people in the industry say news organizations still have plenty of resources and experience to skillfully cover major news events in the coming months and years. Heyward compared the teams at television news stations covering the presidential election to “a well-oiled machine.”
However, in recent months there have been numerous signs of distress.
Layoffs have been widespread at print, radio and television news organizations across the country for more than a year. A Gallup poll found that the level of trust in the media hit an all-time low last year, during the half-century that the question has been asked.
CNN has gone through several leadership changes since 2021 and its audience has decreased significantly from a few years ago. CNN’s current CEO, Mark Thompson, has acknowledged that the network is facing an “existential question” and that the company is exploring a new digital strategy.
ABC News President Kim Godwin, the first Black woman to lead a news division, had a difficult career in the position almost from the beginning. ABC’s parent company, the Walt Disney Company, hired her from CBS in 2021 to help smooth over a culture rocked by some internal conflicts, including an episode in which an executive was fired after being accused of making racist comments.
The headaches piled up quickly for Ms. Godwin. Employees questioned her leadership style after some high-profile departures and the firing of several top executives, including those involved in news gathering and talent relations. Her hands-off attitude also bothered many.
In 2022, after it was publicly revealed that “GMA3” hosts TJ Holmes and Amy Robach were romantically involved, Ms. Godwin initially kept them on the air. It took her several days to reverse course, after the relationship sparked a wild tabloid spectacle. The couple left the network almost two months later.
The network’s “Good Morning America” has had ratings problems. Its main rival, NBC’s “Today,” has scored ratings victories in a key metric (adults under 54) for many months, and even “CBS Mornings” has surpassed “GMA” several times in the last five months. a highly unusual development figure.
The corporate calculus has also changed for Godwin, reflecting growing pressure on traditional media companies. The Disney executive who hired her, Peter Rice, was fired a year after his arrival. Months later, the person who ousted Rice, Disney CEO Bob Chapek, was fired by the company’s board of directors.
A little more than a year after being hired, Godwin had two new bosses: Robert A. Iger, Disney’s current chief executive, and Dana Walden, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, who succeeded Rice.
With growing concerns about Ms. Godwin’s performance, she would soon have a third new boss: Debra O’Connell, a veteran of nearly three decades at Disney who effectively took over ABC News in February.
Ms. Godwin signed a contract extension and retained her title, but the agreement lasted only a few months. In a note to employees Sunday night, she said she was leaving broadcast journalism entirely and leaving the network “and this profession with the sincerest sense of pride, accomplishment and gratitude.”
OConnell said he would oversee the news division “for the time being,” a suggestion that someone will eventually be hired to run ABC News on a day-to-day basis.
Ms. OConnell has a lot of experience in sales, marketing and distribution, but little experience as a journalist. Her appointment was in line with the way media executives appear to be handling leadership positions in their news divisions, which in recent decades typically fell to people who had spent years working as news producers.
Wendy McMahon, CEO of CBS News, has experience in local television. César Conde, president of NBCUniversal News Group, has limited experience in journalism and was chosen after a successful career at Telemundo.
In March, Conde and several of his top lieutenants in the news division faced withering internal backlash after they hired Ronna McDaniel, former chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, as an on-air contributor. She was fired after a few days and Mr. Conde assumed responsibility for hiring her.
But Mr. Conde had been hired for his acumen as a businessman, like many others, as all of these companies navigate a rapidly changing business model.
“Its core product, on which it has built its business, the linear newscast, has little or no relevance to the next generation of news consumers,” said Heyward, former president of CBS News. “All of these companies have to reinvent themselves on the fly, which is a difficult thing to do.”