Current TV Appoints a New President
Move comes just one week after the departure of the network's CEO
After the resignation of its CEO just over a week ago, Current TV has named a partial successor. David Bohrman, who just last week stepped down as head of CNN’s Washington Bureau, will lead Current as president, the network announced today.
The news of Bohrman’s appointment came after the resignation of Mark Rosenthal in late July. Rosenthal, a cable veteran who had served as CFO of MTV Networks, had been leading Current as CEO since his appointment to that post in 2009. Rosenthal departed abruptly, amid the revelation that, for the past two months, he had been sharing the CEO spot with Current co-founder Joel Hyatt. Sources close to the network attributed Rosenthal’s departure at the time to the fact that he was not comfortable sharing the top position and that he was finding it difficult to get things done under the new power-sharing arrangement.
“Redefining media in a world of consolidation requires some game-changing measures,” Hyatt said in a statement about Bohrman's appointment. “Having Keith Olbermann join Current was a game changer. When we sought world-class leadership in the programming, production and digital areas, David Bohrman’s name came up time and again . . . No one can touch David when it comes to developing innovative ways to tap the zeitgeist and get audiences immersed and involved.”
For his part, Bohrman has a well-padded TV news resume. He helped launch MSNBC and spent time at ABC News and NBC News before joining CNN over a decade ago. Under the new arrangement, Hyatt will stay on as CEO with Bohrman heading up programming, production, and broadcast and technology operations as president. According to Current’s announcement, Bohrman will “work closely” with Current prime-time host and network chief news officer Keith Olbermann.
