Michael Bass, who oversaw CNN's programming over most of the last decade, is leaving the news network at the end of the year.
CNN Chief Executive Chris Licht told staffers Monday that Bass has decided to leave the network and said a search is underway for his replacement.
The exit of Bass is not a surprise; he was a close ally of CNN's previous leader Jeff Zucker. Colleagues have said he wanted to leave when Zucker departed in February, but as a highly trusted figure internally who deeply understood the CNN operation, he was persuaded to stay.
