Executive producer for ‘CBS Evening News With Norah O’Donnell’ exits
Jay Shaylor is leaving his role as executive producer for “CBS Evening News With Norah O’Donnell,” the first significant change under new management for the news division.
Shaylor’s departure was confirmed Friday by CBS News, which gave no reason for his exit.
“We thank him for his contributions to the broadcast and for helping develop it into the impactful program it is today,” a representative for the division said in a statement.
Co-senior broadcast producers Elizabeth Turner and Alturo Rhymes will share day-to-day management of the program until CBS News names a replacement. Shaylor came to CBS News in October 2019 after stints at CNN and ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
After Norah O’Donnell was named anchor of the “CBS Evening News” in May, she received a congratulatory email from Maureen Orth, the widow of Tim Russert, the late NBC Washington bureau chief and “Meet the Press” moderator.
“CBS Evening News” has long trailed “ABC World News With David Muir” and “NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt” in the ratings, although the program has narrowed the gap with its competitors since O’Donnell has been in the anchor chair. Ratings for all network news programs have been in decline as consumers spend less time with traditional TV outlets.
O’Donnell’s ascension to the anchor job in July 2019 was championed by Susan Zirinsky during her tenure as president of CBS News. Zirinsky moved out of that job in April, replaced by Nareej Khemlani and Wendy McMahon as co-presidents and co-head of CBS News and Stations in a reorganization of the two divisions.
The TV stations were combined with the news division following the ouster of Peter Dunn and his second-in-command, David Friend. A Los Angeles Times investigation found the duo had cultivated an environment that included bullying female managers and blocking efforts to hire and retain Black journalists. The men have denied wrongdoing.
After O’Donnell took over for Jeff Glor, the studio for the nightly newscast, which had originated from New York since the days of Walter Cronkite, moved to Washington. O’Donnell, who joined CBS News in 2011, lives in the Washington area with her family.
O’Donnell signed a long-term deal with the network in 2019.
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