Friend(Less)?

What are the “other opportunities” David Friend is leaving CNBC to persue? He joined the network in 1997 and held the top news post since 2002, today’s NYP notes.

For over a year, tipsters have been speculating that the senior VP was on the way out. “Many believe it is merely a matter of time before Sr. News VP David Friend is shown the door,” an insider told me last summer.

And yesterday, an observer put it this way: “Friend has been at CNBC forever… but no one over there is shedding any tears over his departure. Though the memo Hoffman sent around made it sound like Friend would be missed, I doubt that very much.”

> Update: 9:56am: “Whoever wrote David Friend won’t be missed is getting a little nasty. David was a very easy person to work with, lots of TV experience and is a good guy. Believe me, there are a lot of people rooting for him, hoping he’ll go somewhere and take them along.”