It turns out Josh Elliott wasn’t just signing off CBSN last Friday, but of the entire network news division. TVNewser has learned Elliott was called into CBS HQ this morning for a meeting with CBS News president David Rhodes. A short time later Elliott was seen leaving the building.
Elliott, who joined CBS News last March as the main anchor for digital network CBSN, had recorded a goodbye video to the digital network on Friday. That video stunned CBS News executives who later told TVNewser, “Josh is going to be taking field assignments and reporting long form pieces as well. He will appear across CBS News programs, including CBSN.”
Friday night, Page Six reported that a miscommunication led to the whole mess.
Elliott had recently met with Laurie Orlando, the network’s head of talent, who told him that she wanted him to take on a bigger role at CBS News. “Then Josh announced his departure without warning,” said the insider. “Executives at CBS were stunned.” Meanwhile, sources close to Elliott claim that his executive producer dropped the ball for not alerting higher-ups, including Orlando and CBS News president David Rhodes. “They totally bungled their own announcement,” said the source. “There was no communication.”
Elliott has now worked at all big 3 networks in less than three years. Elliott was a rising star at ABC News, as news anchor of Good Morning America, when he bolted for NBC Sports in March 2014. His time at NBC was limited, however, to just 20 months. He had been expected to play a large role in NBC’s Rio Olympics, but departed in Dec. 2015.
More: CBS released this statement: “CBS News and Josh Elliott are parting ways. Josh will no longer be reporting for CBS News. We are grateful for his contributions over the last year. And we wish him the very best in his feature endeavors.”