ABC’s loss appears to be CBS’ gain.
We hear longtime Disney and ABC staffers have been finding a home at CBS News as the former continues to slash its workforce.
Former ABC heavy hitters such as Matthew Mosk and Wendy Fisher have landed executive positions at CBS after they were given the boot under former president Kim Godwin. ABC News veteran Tom Cibrowski has also been snapped up by the network. He was named president and executive editor of CBS News last week.
Sources told Page Six the move to hire ABC vets has been intentional. Wendy McMahon, president and CEO of CBS News and Television Stations and CBS Media Ventures is excited to scoop up the newly available talent.
And she’s hoping to replicate the former success of now struggling “Good Morning America.”
Case in point: Cibrowksi was the executive producer of “GMA” when it finally took over the No. 1 spot from NBC’s “Today” back in 2012. His hire “proves she’s bringing in heavy hitters,” a source said, “She’s building out the team, and trying to stabilize the news division, so she can focus on her much bigger portfolio.”
McMahon is a former ABC staffer. She had a stint as president of the ABC Owned Television Stations before taking up her gig at CBS in 2021.
Meanwhile, ABC announced it was laying off a chunk of its staff on Wednesday. An ABC exec seemingly attempted to downplay the layoffs, telling us, “just under 200 employees are impacted, representing less than 6% of the total ABC News Group and Disney Entertainment Networks workforce.”
ABC News president – and David Muir crony – Almin Karamehmedovic announced “reductions to our extrordinary staff” in a memo to employees this morning.
“These decisions are incredibly challenging and today will undoubtedly be difficult for our organization,” he wrote.
Karamehmedovic added, “I’d especially like to acknowledge the outstanding contributions made by our departing colleagues, who have our respect, gratitude, and empathy.”
He concluded the memo by telling staff he’s proud “of all that you do.”
We’re told ABC staffers are on edge, and there may be another wave of layoffs to hit before summer.
A rep for ABC and CBS did not comment.
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