CNN has suffered viewership losses and

is

struggling to forge a new identity among parent

company

Warner Bros. Discovery

during over

last year.

Now the business owner puts one of his own employees in second place at the cable news network

of chief operating officer

.

The CNN company

announced Thursday that David Leavy will assume the new role, placing him in charge of business, operations and promotional activities within CNN Worldwide.

foliage,

who previously held the position of Chief Corporate Affairs Officer

bee

Warner Bros. DiscoveryWBD

, will report to CNN Chairman Chris Licht. Leavy is a veteran of Discovery Inc., the

firm that

merged with WarnerMedia to form Warner Bros. Discovery, and is a lieutenant and confidant

e

by

WBD

Director David Zaslav.

David’s deep operational experience, institutional knowledge and key industry relationships perfectly complement the strengths of our leadership team, Licht said of Leavy in a statement.

He is a strategic, versatile and dynamic executive who will work with me and the senior leadership team to help transform our business as we get full programming on the air, build our digital future and grow the CNN brand around the world.

The movement

is meant to be directed to allow

light

Unpleasant

focus on managing the editorial direction and programming of the network.

Leavey, who

once

served as a press representative in the Clinton administration, is a seasoned veteran of the cable industry, but has no news experience.

Leavy Hey

is one of Zaslav’s most trusted assistants and has a reputation for navigating sticky situations. At Discovery, he often served as a calm counterbalance to the

S

shoot from the hip style. His experience in the White House has given him an insight into Washington politics.

Leavy moves to CNN as it faces a sharp downturn in

the review audience

including one

viewer

exodus that followed the poorly received May 10 town hall with former President Trump seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

The City Hall format was ridiculed internally and externally because Trump was able to cheer supporters in the audience and spout untruths faster than moderator Kaitlan Collins could.

handle for fact check

.

Veteran CNN correspondent Christiane Ama

N

pour publicly denounced the decision to give Trump such a forum, a position supported by her social media peers.

Such an outward display of dissatisfaction is not a good sign for leadership.

Trump’s appearance was part of an ongoing effort by CNN to lure back conservative and Republican voters. Zaslav has said the network relied too much on progressive advocacy under its previous leader Jeff Zucker, who replaced Licht in April 2022.

But the programming moves of Licht, a successful producer of morning news programs at MSNBC and CBS, have failed to connect with viewers. A new morning show launched in December remains at the bottom of the cable news ratings.

other

The most famous anchor assigned to the program, Don Lemon, was fired afterwards

enormous

backlash over sexist remarks he made on-air.

Light has been slow to recreate a primetime lineup

That

has fallen behind the small right-wing outlet Newsmax on some nights and follows Fox News and MSNBC from ages 25 to 54

group

coveted by advertisers,

according to Nielsen data

.

The network has said there will be a programming refresh coming this fall, with Collins taking over the 9 p.m. Eastern slot as host. The network is also launching a

new

weekly talk show in which CBS Mornings host Gayle King teams up with Charles Barkley.

Times staff writer Meg James contributed to this report.