HLN President Albie Heicht stepped down from his post on Tuesday. He had been at the channel for two years.
Ken Jautz, the executive vice president of CNN US, will take over on an interim basis.
Under Heicht’s watch, HLN, formerly known as Headline News, ditched the last remnants of its headline news format and instead focused on being the television home for the social media generation. However, the shift has been difficult for HLN which has increasingly relied on reruns of Forensic Files.
Changes could be on the way for HLN. CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker said, “As we look towards 2016, I now believe that by driving HLN’s programming during the daytime and overnight hours closer to CNN’s, and by utilizing a much stronger library of content that has been built in the last three years, we can take that success to even greater heights.”
Zucker then alluding that the upcoming changes were why Heicht stepped down. “In light of that, Albie Hecht has decided it makes sense for him to move on,” Zucker wrote in a memo to employees.
It is not immediately known where Heicht, a television executive with decades under his belt, will go next.
I am extremely proud of the transformation we have accomplished,” Hecht wrote in a statement, “and I want to thank all of the talented people I’ve had the privilege of working with at HLN and especially thank Jeff and John Martin for all of their support.” Martin is the CEO of CNN and HLN’s parent company, Turner Broadcasting.