Neeraj Khemlani, Wendy McMahon Named President and Co-Heads of CBS News and CBS TV Stations

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorWalter Cronkite held forth from New York and Washington for CBS News. His heirs at a new ViacomCBS unit will do the same, while also monitoring Sacramento, Minneapolis and Dallas.The two executives named to head a newly fashioned division that combines the CBS local stations with CBS News and the team that manages the CBSN live-streaming news service offered their early vision for how the operation will function.

Wendy McMahon and Neeraj Khemlani, the new presidents and co-heads of CBS News and CBS Television Stations, outlined some of their initial plans for the newly combined division.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWEA, the Label and Artist Services division of Warner Music Group, today announced that Benjamin Blank has been named president of media, a newly created position. In this role, Blank will lead WMG’s new digital advertising and creative content division, unifying WMG’s digital advertising under one unit.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorJulie Townsend, longtime head of communications for ABC News, will leave the Disney unit as it prepares to welcome a new president.Townsend, a VP who has supervised outreach on behalf of flagship news programs ranging from “Good Morning America” to “World News Tonight,” will leave May 14 “to lead global consumer communications at an iconic American company” that she said in a memo to staffers would be revealed at a later date.“This was not an easy decision to

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorTom Llamas, the popular former ABC News anchor, has joined NBC News as a primetime anchor for its NBC News Now live-streaming service.Llamas will work as a senior national correspondent and will also contribute reporting to the network’s flagship shows and breaking news and special events coverage.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorABC News will offer a portrait of the life of George Floyd in a two-hour “20/20” slated to air April 23 at 9 p.m.

WrestleMania 37.  'Celebrity matches' at The Show of Shows are usually loathed by fans, but the Puerto Rican rapper absolutely tore the house down.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorABC is looking for a new producer to open the network for business each morning.The abrupt departure of Michael Corn, the seasoned news producer who has managed the network’s flagship A.M. franchise, “Good Morning America,” since 2014, means ABC News is suddenly working a little harder to keep the program on its current path.

ViacomCBS has namedNeeraj Khemlani and Wendy McMahon co-heads of CBS News and the CBS Television Stations. Khemlani, currently an executive vp at Hearst Newspapers, and a former producer for the CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes, will join the company in May.

CBS is combining its news division and CBS Television Stations into one division, with Neeraj Khemlani  and Wendy McMahon named presidents and co-heads.

CBS has renewed its flagship drama series, NCIS, for a nineteenth season. The series’ leading man, Mark Harmon, is expected to be back.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAfter a tough year, NBCUniversal’s news operations aim to honor people who provide inspiration.NBCU News Group will launch a new content franchise designed to call attention to influential individuals. “Inspiring America” includes an annual primetime TV event.

The Walt Disney Co. has named Kimberly Godwin president of ABC News.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThe recent procession of top news executives shifting positions at ABC News, MSNBC and CBS News gives many in the close-knit world of TV journalism cause for hand-wringing.In recent months, NBCUniversal named a new executive, Cesar Conde, to head all its news operations, replacing Andy Lack. Conde in turn named a new president at MSNBC, Rashida Jones.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorKimberly Godwin, a veteran of local and national TV-news operations, will be the next president of ABC News  — and the first Black executive to run a broadcast-network news operation.Disney on Wednesday confirmed that Godwin, who has been with CBS News since 2007, will take over the role most recently held by James Goldston.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorCBS News veteran Kim Godwin is expected to become the next president of ABC News, a move that would make her the first Black executive to lead a broadcast-network news division.Godwin has had an offer from Disney’s ABC for several weeks, according to a person familiar with the matter, but only in the last few days did CBS CEO George Cheeks agree to let the executive out of her contract.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFox News Media named former U.S.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorTwo CBS veterans, Peter Dunn and David Friend, are leaving their top roles at CBS’ local-stations division as an investigation continues into allegations they were abusive to women and employees of color.“Peter Dunn, President of the CBS Television Stations, and David Friend, Senior Vice President of News for the Stations group, will not return to their positions and will be leaving the Company.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorJason White has worked to capture attention for Nike, Apple’s Beats and cannabis products. Now he’s bringing his marketing acumen to the world of TV.White has been named chief marketing officer for ViacomCBS’ MTV Entertainment Group, a heady job that involves touting MTV, Comedy Central and Smithsonian Channel among other popular media brands.