CNN’s svp of global video Chris Berend is heading to NBC News, where he will become evp of NBC News Digital, and report in to NBC News president Noah Oppenheim.
Berend will assume the role in July, and replaces current NBC News Digital chief Nick Ascheim, who NBC News chairman Andy Lack says will be moving into a role “working to improve digital performance across the NBC News Group and will continue to partner with the NBCUniversal Digital Enterprises team.”
More details to come.
Berend currently oversees all digital video content at CNN, including breaking news, feature content, and original premium series. He also co-founded CNN’s successful digital video content studio Great Big Story with Andrew Morse in October 2015.
Prior to his time at CNN, Berend worked in digital video at Bloomberg Media and ESPN, and before that was a journalist at Esquire. “He has a sharp eye for product, and a fantastic sense of the business and editorial demands of digital news,” Lack says of Berend.
TVNewser obtained the internal memo Lack sent to his staff announcing the changes not long ago:
Dear Colleagues,
We’ve worked hard over the last few years to build an innovative and competitive Digital business. Thanks to the leadership of Nick Ascheim and all your creativity and ingenuity, we’ve made enormous progress since 2015.
Nick now has an opportunity to take his considerable skills beyond NBC News. Over the next few weeks, Nick will be moving into a role working to improve digital performance across the NBC News Group and will continue to partner with the NBCUniversal Digital Enterprises team. More details will come on his role.
With Nick moving on, I’ve been giving a good deal of thought to the next steps in the evolution of our Digital efforts. Specifically, how can we further our goal of always putting “story first” while fully integrating our television, digital video and text journalism into one unified structure within NBC News? As I said at our town hall meeting last Fall, it’s a mindset and a cultural shift, but one we are uniquely capable of achieving.
Our Digital team must now live more deeply within NBC News organizationally, rather than alongside it. To that end, I’m pleased to announce that Chris Berend will be joining us at the beginning of July to help lead us down that path. Chris will be EVP, NBC News Digital, reporting in to Noah. Chris is currently at CNN where he oversees all digital video content, including breaking news, feature content, and original premium series. Prior to his time at CNN, Chris was a digital leader at Bloomberg Media and ESPN, and before that a journalist at Esquire. He has a sharp eye for product, and a fantastic sense of the business and editorial demands of digital news.
Please join me in congratulating Nick on a job well done, and welcoming Chris to NBC News.
Warm Regards,
Andy