Chris Licht, Stephen Colbert's executive producer, is expected to be named CNN's president

The New York Times

Licht is poised to succeed Jeff Zucker as CNN's leader once the network's parent company, WarnerMedia, completes its merger with Discovery, as Puck News first reported. The 50-year-old Licht, who also serves as CBS News' executive vice president of special programming, was brought on board The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in April 2016 -- seven months after its premiere -- to serve as showrunner for then-struggling late-night show. Licht 's presence, taking over administrative duties, gave Colbert more time to focus on the performing side of his job. Licht also encouraged Colbert to more forcefully engage with current events and political news, which led to The Late Show becoming the No. 1 network late-night show. Before The Late Show, Licht was executive producer of CBS This Morning, where he is widely credited with turning around its fortunes, adding Gayle King and Charlie Rose and introducing a chattier, more freewheeling format. Before CBS This Morning, Licht helped launch Morning Joe with  Joe Scarborough on MSNBC. Morning Joe is still a hugely successful franchise. A formal announcement of Licht's new CNN role is expected as soon as this coming week.