The New York Post reports on a Disney shareholder who asked Disney CEO Bob Iger whether his ABC News division is becoming a “training ground” for talent who eventually flee to CNN. Jake Tapper, Chris Cuomo, Bill Weir, and John Berman have all left ABC for CNN in the last 18 months. Rachel Nichols also left Disney-owned ESPN for CNN.
One key reason for the departures, which was not mentioned in the NYPost story, is that former ABC News VP of talent and strategy Amy Entelis is now head of talent and content development at CNN. Others who’ve made the move to CNN include SVP Vinnie Malhotra who spent 15 years at ABC and ESPN, and Andrew Morse who also spent 15 years at ABC and is now CNN’s SVP of domestic newsgathering.
Iger is unfazed by the departures, telling shareholders ABC has “a deep bench,” adding “in some cases we were trying to make way for a new generation, a new crop of talent.” The Post reports Iger singled out ABC News reporter David Muir, who is rumored to be a contender to replace Diane Sawyer on “World News.”