CBS News Names Licht VP Of Programming

Chris Licht, co-creator and original executive producer of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, will join CBS News as vice president of programming. Licht will oversee programming and development for CBS News broadcasts and platforms effective June 6.

“Chris is one of the most talented producers in this business, and it is great for CBS News that he is joining us,” said CBS News Chairman and 60 Minutes Executive Producer Jeff Fager. “He will be a significant partner in improving our existing broadcasts and developing new ones.”

“Chris is an innovator and we’re thrilled to have his talents here at CBS News,” said David Rhodes, president, CBS News. “He’ll bring a fresh perspective to the news division which will excite colleagues and audiences — just as he did in cable news and local broadcasting.”

Before Morning Joe, Licht partnered with Joe Scarborough on MSNBC’s Scarborough Country as senior producer and then was elevated to the position of executive producer.

Licht has worked at various levels of the electronic news business. He began his career at KNBC Los Angeles. Over the next seven years at KNBC, he moved up to special projects producer, coordinated the station’s Olympics coverage, and then produced the Channel 4 News at 11. In 2001, NBC moved Licht to San Francisco as part of the transition team during the network’s purchase of KNTV. Following the transition, he remained as executive producer.

Licht’s first book, What I Learned When I Almost Died, will be published by Simon & Schuster later this month.

He graduated from Syracuse University’s SI Newhouse School of Public Communication with a bachelor’s in broadcast journalism and political science.