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| David Leavy |
David Leavy, chief corporate affairs officer at Warner Brothers Discovery, has been named COO of CNN Worldwide, effective June 20.
He will assume responsibility for commercial, operational and promotional activities and report to CEO Chris Licht.
Leavy is a 23-year veteran of Discovery and a top lieutenant of CEO David Zaslev. He will remain in charge of public policy and CSR matters at Warner Bros. Discovery.
“David’s deep operational experience, institutional knowledge and key industry relationships perfectly complement the strengths of our leadership team,” Licht said in a statement.
CNN has been battling a ratings slump. Its primetime viewership plummeted 25 percent to 494K in May from a year ago.
As chief corporate operations officer at Discovery Inc., Leavy handled the launch of discovery+ in 2021, guided its public listing on the NASDAQ exchange in 2008, and worked on the deal to acquire Scripps Networks Interactive in 2018.
Earlier, he worked in the Clinton White House as chief spokesperson for the National Security Council and deputy press secretary for foreign affairs.
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