Jon Adler to Exit as CNN SVP of Original Series

The cable news network announced in late October that it would be pulling back on making shows like “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy”

jon-adler-cnn
Courtesy of CNN

CNN’s senior vice president of original series program development, Jon Adler, is exiting the cable news network by the end of the year. The news comes after the media company announced it would be pulling back on original series and documentary content commissioned by outside partners.

Adler, who has been with CNN for a decade, helped launch the CNN’s original programming slate, having worked across 30 series like “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown,” “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” and “United Shades of America.” He was promoted to this role in March, ahead of the debut and eventual discontinuation of CNN+.

“Our long-term plan will no longer rely on commissioned projects with outside partners,” CEO Chris Licht wrote in the October announcement of the department’s downsizing. “This was a very difficult decision to make, and it was based, in large part, on the ever-increasing cost of commissioning third-party premium content. However, I want to be clear that longform content remains an important pillar of our programming.”

In 2023, CNN will air six series and films each, including opioid doc “American Pain,” “Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico” and five-part miniseries “See It Loud: The History of Black Television,” from LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s SpringHill Company. The executive said the goal is to prioritize flexibility and design an approach to creating longform content in-house.

Licht had warned of drastic budget cuts before the end of the year, which resulted in hundreds of laid-off staffers and a “noticeable change” for the network, due to the downturning economy, as well as the billions-dollar debt facing parent company Warner Bros. Discovery. Among the big changes was the halting of all live programming on HLN beginning earlier this week.

“Our people are the heart and soul of this organization. It is incredibly hard to say goodbye to any one member of the CNN team, much less many,” Licht said at the time. “I recently described this process as a gut punch, because I know that is how it feels for all of us.”

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