CHANGES

CNN Head Jim Walton Leaving

Departs with U.S. ratings suffering.

Jim Walton, who led CNN for 10 years as president, is quitting the network, he announced today. Walton said that the company needs new leadership. While the CNN brand has performed relatively well internationally in recent years, lately the U.S. network has been foundering, beset by low ratings amidst fierce broadcast and online competition for news and punditry. It’s now fallen to third place in the U.S. market behind Fox News and MSNBC. Walton will stay in place until the end of the year while the network searches for his successor. “I think this company needs some new thinking,” he said. “I’ve been doing this job I'm in now for 10 years and I'm ready for a change.”