Current TV Head Rosenthal Steps Down; Hyatt Back In CEO Seat
Mark Rosenthal is leaving his post as CEO of Current TV just exactly two years after he took the job, paidContent has confirmed from an earlier report from Adweek. In his place, the cable network’s co-founder Joel Hyatt will return to the CEO role he relinquished when Rosenthal was hired.
Although still struggling for household penetration, Current TV has managed to attract a great deal of buzz. Most notably, it hired ex-MSNBC (NSDQ: CMCSA) host Keith Olbermann (who spoke about his appointment as chief news officer along with Hyatt at paidContent’s 2011 conference last spring). Before that, Current TV made news whentwo of its journalists were captured by North Korean authorities in 2009 as they were filming a report (they were subsequently freed with assistance from Bill Clinton).
Initially, Hyatt and his co-founder, Al Gore, had created Current TV as a cable channel that specialized in short-form, internet-like programming, relying heavily on audience submissions. Within 90 days of arriving as CEO, Rosenthal, a former MTV and ad industry executive who had come over from web-based ad agency Spot Runner, had dropped Current TV’s short-form programming and some of its in-house originals in favor of more traditional show lengths and acquisitions.
Still, Rosenthal, a Current TV board member from the very beginning, hadn’t completely abandoned the interactive focus the network had forged. One of his earliest hires was Will Wright, creator of virtual world The Sims. Wright was brought in to create an episodic series for Current TV tentatively titled Bar Karma.
Things seemed to be going pretty well for Current TV, which Rosenthal said could still be viewed as a startup, given the revamp he had begun two years before. After bringing in Olbermann, Current TV had even beat the established, if embattled, CNN at 8pm at least five times in the ratings, according to Nielsen figures.
Given that things were finally headed in the right direction, Rosenthal’s departure comes at a curious time. Sources told paidContent that Hyatt had been itching to get back into a more hands on managing role and had suggested that Rosenthal and he share CEO duties a few months ago. As is typical in such arrangements, having to share the top job with a founder tends to be a short-lived relationship.
It will be interesting to see whether Hyatt can continue Rosenthal’s momentum, especially in terms of striking deals with more names like Olbermann. There is some reason for doubt, as Hyatt’s background was not in cable, entertainment or news, but in legal affairs and Democratic politics.
As one person described the situation, it was as if Rosenthal had been handed the keys to Hyatt’s vacated house to do with what he wanted and when the owner liked what he did with the place so much, Hyatt decided he wanted to move back in. Rosenthal’s feeling was that the CEO seat wasn’t big enough for the two individuals to share, so he decided to move on. Apparently, the departure is fairly amicable, though many of the hires Rosenthal made are said to be wary of what will happen next.
While Rosenthal’s highest profile hire, Olbermann, hasn’t tweeted anything about the CEO’s departure, Deadline Hollywood cites unidentified sources as saying the cable commentator is upset by Rosenthal’s decision to leave.
The company’s statement:
After six years as a board member, and two years leading Current as CEO, Mark Rosenthal is leaving the company and Joel Hyatt, who co-founded Current with Chairman Al Gore, will again assume the title of CEO.
During Mark’s tenure, Current has become a focused cable network with a world class leadership team, a new brand identity, a move towards long-form, ratings-driven factual programming and a solid foundation for growth. These results helped pave the way for Current’s recently successful launch of “Countdown With Keith Olbermann” and the network’s major strategic shift to become a political commentary and news analysis network, with a clear, progressive point of view.
