Veteran journalist Chris Wallace is exiting CNN three years after joining from Fox News. “Chris Wallace is one of the most respected political journalists in the news business with a unique track record across radio, print, broadcast television, cable television and streaming,” CNN Chairman and Chief Executive Mark Thompson said in a statement Monday. “We want to thank him for the dedication and wisdom he’s brought to all his work at CNN and to wish him the very best for future.
” Wallace, 77, is the first and likely not last big-name TV news talent to leave in the coming months. Major cost-cutting is expected across media organizations following the 2024 presidential election. Wallace was expected to be a cost-cutting target.
He was poached from Fox News in late 2021 at a salary said to be in the range of $8 million a year. His two weekend programs, “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?” and “The Chris Wallace Show,” are modest performers in the ratings for the network. Former CNN President Jeff Zucker originally hired Wallace to work at CNN+, the company’s initial attempt at a streaming service to supplement its cable business.
Zucker was fired two weeks after Wallace arrived and the streaming venture was shut down shortly after CNN became part of Warner Bros. Discovery. Zucker’s successor Chris Licht moved “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?” — where the host did lengthy interviews with celebrities — to the cable network.
Wallace added a live Satur.
