CNN Ownership Changes as Amanpour Plans Exit

Christiane Amanpour plans to leave CNN at the end of June, after more than 43 years at the network. Her departure comes as parent company Warner Bros. Discovery enters new ownership under David Ellison’s media corporation, Paramount Skydance.

A Long Tenure at CNN

Mark Thompson, CNN’s chief executive, announced Amanpour’s departure in a letter to newsroom employees obtained by NBC News. Thompson said Amanpour had decided “that the time is right to begin a new chapter.” She is 68.

Amanpour joined CNN in 1983. Over her career, she covered major international conflicts and crises, including the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Bosnian War and the Persian Gulf War.

She also reported on the post-9/11 U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Arab Spring, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s war in Gaza. The announcement lists those events among her reporting, but doesn’t describe the terms of her departure or name a successor.

Amanpour interviewed world leaders including former President Bill Clinton, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi. She also spoke with several Iranian presidents, including Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Rouhani.

In her statement, Amanpour thanked “the amazingly talented people I've worked with throughout this incredible journey,” and singled out her “beloved show teams and field crews.” She credited those colleagues as part of her reporting work.

“We together battled to seek the facts, the evidence and the humanity,” Amanpour said, “so that CNN could always broadcast the truth about the world and to the world, without fear nor favor.”

The Program’s Final Schedule

Amanpour plans to cut her eponymous CNN International show to once a week early in 2027. Thompson said the program will end in May, with Amanpour leaving CNN at the end of June.

Thompson said he and Amanpour had discussed the decision for some months. “Christiane has thought carefully about this decision,” he said. He added that he was “very sorry to see her go,” but accepted that the timing was right for her personally and professionally.

The letter announces the end of Amanpour’s CNN tenure and the program’s conclusion, but offers no further details about what will happen to the show’s staff or field crews. Amanpour thanked those workers in her statement, without saying what assignments they’ll take on next.

CNN Under New Ownership

Amanpour’s departure comes weeks after David Ellison’s media corporation, Paramount Skydance, formally took over Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent company. Thompson will stay on as CNN’s head under the new ownership.

The change also sets a new reporting line for CNN’s chief executive: Thompson will report directly to Skydance co-CEOs Ellison and Ynon Kreiz. The announcement names the corporation’s new owners and the executives who will oversee CNN, but provides no details about changes to newsroom operations.

Amanpour’s departure announcement focuses on her decision, decades of reporting and the colleagues she thanked. It comes as ownership of the network changes and Thompson begins reporting directly to the new owners.