By David Bauder, Media Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --CBS on Monday appointed executive Wendy McMahon to an expanded role that puts her in charge of the network's news division, its locally owned stations and its syndication business.
For slightly more than two years, McMahan has worked in tandem with Neeraj Khemlani, leading the network's storied news division and the news operations at the 14 network affiliates it owns, in cities like New York and Los Angeles.
Khemlani said on Sunday that he was stepping down as co-president of CBS News and Stations. The impending retirement of Steve LoCascio, president of CBS Media Ventures, will give McMahon a bigger job that includes overseeing syndicated programs like "Jeopardy!," "Entertainment Tonight" and "The Drew Barrymore Show."
One of her first steps on Monday was appointing 30-year CBS News veteran Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews to lead the news division. Ciprian-Matthews was most recently executive vice president of newsgathering at CBS News.
McMahon has moved aggressively to boost the news operations at local CBS stations, pushing them to emphasize more solutions-based journalism. Los Angeles has recently launched a seven-hour morning news franchise.
The network news division generally runs third behind ABC and NBC in the ratings. CBS executives have lately concentrated on revamping the CBS News morning show, and bringing some outside talent, including Cecilia Vega,Robert Costa,Lisa Ling and Natalie Morales.
Khemlani was dogged by reports of an abrasive management style that offended some underlings. He's remaining at CBS in a production capacity to create documentaries, scripted series and books for Simon & Schuster, which CBS parent company Paramount recently agreed to sell to private equity firm KKR.
The elevation of Ciprian-Matthews means women are in charge at the nation's top television news operations. She joins ABC News President Kim Godwin and Rebecca Blumenstein, head of editorial at NBC News. Suzanne Scott is the Fox News CEO and Rashida Jones is president of MSNBC. CNN is searching for a new leader, although Amy Entelis is the senior executive of the four-person team running the network during the interim.
Harvey Weinstein hit with new sex crime charge in New York
Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a new sex crime charge in New York, as he awaits retrial in his landmark #MeToo case.
Details of the new allegations were not immediately available. He was charged with committing a criminal sex act.
The jailed ex-movie mogul has long maintained that any sexual activity was consensual.
Prosecutors revealed last week that Weinstein had been indicted on additional sex crime charges that weren't part of the case that led to his now-overturned 2020 conviction. But the new indictment was sealed until his arraignment.
Prosecutors have said that the grand jury heard evidence of up to three alleged assaults — two in hotels in the Tribeca neighborhood and one at a lower Manhattan residential building. The purported incidents took place from the mid-2000s to 2016, prosecutors said.
But it's not clear whether any of those allegations underlie the new indictment.
While bracing for the new charges, Weinstein also is awaiting retrial after New York state's highest court this spring overturned his 2020 conviction on rape and sexual assault charges involving two women. The high court, called the Court of Appeals, ordered a new trial, which is tentatively scheduled to begin Nov. 12.
The Court of Appeals ruled that the then-trial judge unfairly allowed testimony against him based on allegations that were not part of the case. That judge's term expired in 2022, and he is no longer on the bench.
Prosecutors have said they'll seek to fold the new charges into the retrial, but Weinstein's lawyers say it should be a separate case.
Weinstein, who also was convicted in 2022 in a Los Angeles rape case, remains behind bars while awaiting his New York retrial.
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