Athan Stephanopoulos has been tapped by CNN to serve as executive vice president and chief digital officer of CNN Worldwide.There has been much speculation as to who CNN Worldwide chairman and CEO Chris Licht would select for the key leadership role. Stephanopoulos, who has been with Vox Media’s NowThis for the past eight years, will oversee digital editorial, product, technology, business operations and innovation strategies. He will report to Licht. He succeeds Andrew Morse, who departed last spring with the shuttering of CNN+.Licht said in a statement that Stepanopoulos’ “vision for digital journalism, alongside his leadership and business acumen, is exactly what we need to build CNN’s digital future.”Wendy Brundige, who had been interim leader of the network’s digital operation, will become senior VP of CNN Digital Worldwide.Stephanopoulos’ appointment comes as CNN braces for a round of cost cutting and layoffs. Licht sent out a memo on Wednesday warning staffers of “unsettling” changes following a review of network operations. Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent of CNN, said that it expects to incur to incur up to $1.1 billion in organization restructuring costs, including “severance, retention, relocation, and other related costs.” But Licht noted that CNN has already restructured its digital team and “are investing significantly in the product.”Stephanopoulos served as president of NowThis, which is aimed at Gen Z and Millennial audiences, something that all networks are craving to reach given the older-skewing audiences of the linear cable network. Stephanopoulos also was founder and CEO of Cliptamatic, a social video distribution platform, which NowThis acquired in 2014. He also is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations and previously served as an adjunct professor at Fordham University’s Graduate School of Business in New York City.He will start in his new role on Nov. 14 and will be based in New York.Brundige will oversee business operations, commerce and audio. She also will continue management and oversight of the global digital video team. She has been with CNN for eight years, and most recently served as senior vice president of global video for CNN Digital.
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