The Biggest TV News Departures and Shake-Ups of 2024

April—June

July—September

• CBS News president Ingrid Ciprián-Matthews joined Kim Godwin in departing her broadcast news perch. The announcement of her exit in early July—although Ciprián-Matthews stayed in an advisory role through the November election—came against the backdrop of larger changes at CBS News, which will see its parent company, Paramount Global, merging with Skydance Media in 2025. A new leadership team was announced in August with Adrienne Roark stepping into Ciprián-Matthews’ role.
• July ended with another big change for the Eye Network: CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell announced that she would be departing the anchor’s chair and segue into a role that would allow for more long-form interviews and special projects. O’Donnell’s farewell is scheduled for Jan. 24 at which point the perpetual third place evening newscast will undergo a significant overhaul and return with new co-anchors John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois.
• In early August, CNN media analyst Oliver Darcy joined the ranks of journalists going solo, departing the network to launch his Status newsletter. He’s since broken a number of major media stories, including former New York Magazine journalist Olivia Nuzzi‘s alleged affair with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Darcy’s departure also set the stage for the return of Reliable Sources founder—and TVNewser creator—Brian Stelter to CNN
• Groundbreaking talk show host Phil Donahue passed away on Aug. 19 at age 88, inspiring an outpouring of tributes from his friends and contemporaries. Among his many accomplishments, Donahue was the first host to welcome an openly gay guest on his daytime show, humanizing a community that was still vilified by society at large.
• If you stayed up until the clock struck midnight on Aug. 25, you would have heard the final moments of WCBS 880, New York’s famed all-news radio station. After a fond farewell from Wayne Cabot, the station’s feed switched over to an all-sports format powered by ESPN. It was one of 2024’s biggest losses for local news, and the end of an institution that New Yorkers knew and loved for 60 years.
• Speaking of institutions, Jorge Ramos announced in September that he’d be ending his four-decade run at Noticias Univision. The co-anchor of Noticiero Univision stressed that it was a mutual decision to part ways. Ramos plans to announce his next move after signing off for good later this month.
• The morning show landscape is jolted by Hoda Kotb‘s announcement that she’ll depart the Today show couch early next year, with Craig Melvin taking her place. While Kotb says she wanted to spend more time with her young kids, other reports suggests that a proposed pay cut may have led to her exit. The news precedes rumblings that ABC News is looking to lower costs on GMA as it enters contract negotiations with Robin Roberts, Michael Strahan and George Stephanopoulos.
• Ahead of the election, Scripps News announced that it would be getting out of the 24/7 news game, resulting in over 200 layoffs including president of news, Kate O’Brian. Scripps president and CEO Adam Symson cited the lack of revenue growth as one of the reasons for the cuts, spotlighting the increasingly difficult economics for news outlets not backed by major corporations or a strong subscriber base.