Neeraj Khemlani, Wendy McMahon to Lead CBS News, Television Stations

Neeraj Khemlani and Wendy McMahon have been tapped as presidents and co-heads of a newly formed division at CBS encompassing CBS News, CBSN, 10 CBSN local platforms, cbsnews.com and 28 CBS-owned stations in 17 major U.S. markets.

The pair report to George Cheeks, president and CEO of the CBS Entertainment Group. The creation of the new unit is intended to maximize CBS’ newsgathering and production operations. Susan Zirinsky will continue as president of CBS News until the new leadership structure comes into effect next month.

“This is an opportunity to create a news and information structure that positions CBS for the future,” said Cheeks. “It speaks to our ability to scale newsgathering, production, technical and operational resources to serve both national and local, linear and digital, with the agility to deliver trusted information to every platform. Wendy and Neeraj have the leadership background and cross-platform accomplishments that cover all these important areas, and they share our commitment for supporting superior journalism, optimal delivery platforms and the strongest of organizational cultures.”

Khemlani was most recently executive VP and deputy group head at Hearst Newspapers. McMahon was most recently president of the ABC Owned Stations.