CBS News announces new leadership focused on streaming

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CBS News has announced several new leadership roles to accelerate what it calls its “streaming transformation.”

Anthony Galloway has been named senior vice president of CBS News Streaming with David Reiter as executive producer of CBS News special events across network and streaming.

Kaci Sokoloff has also been named as vice president of bookings for CBS News Network and Streaming.

The announcements were made by Neeraj Khemlani, president and co-head of CBS News and Stations.

“As we unify our organization, we’re delighted to bring together a team who will accelerate our streaming ambitions,” said Khemlani in a statement. “Anthony, Kaci and David will bolster our coverage of top news events on every platform and help us achieve a vision of a truly multiplatform, global news division.”

The new hires will help move the network forward with its news streaming, including dropping the CBSN brand in favor of just CBS News for its national stream and regional streaming offerings in major markets where it owns a station.

Launched in November 2014, CBSN was one of the first major entries into streaming by a major U.S. network. It was an ambitious idea, especially when combined with the localized versions.

While many elements of CBSN have been replicated by ABC News Live and NBC News Now, those networks’ respective news streaming services (as well as other, standalone news streamers), CBS is still somewhat unique with its dedicated, regional streams.

The new national CBS News streaming offering is scheduled to move into Studio 57, the former home of “CBS This Morning,” after some renovations and technology updates.

It currently originates from within the same building.

All of the big three networks’ streaming services are free and ad supported, though it’s not clear how receptive advertisers have been as many of the channels still rely heavily on promos for in house or sister network programming to fill breaks.

Galloway, an award-winning digital and broadcast news executive with more than two decades of experience, has been named senior vice president of CBS News Streaming. Galloway joins CBS News from The Wall Street Journal, where he most recently held the newsroom role of chief content officer, editorial video, audio and voice programming, after a three-year run serving as the organization’s global head of video and audio. Galloway previously held senior positions at Condé Nast and Vice Media, following 15 years at NBC News.

Galloway will oversee day-to-day programming and production for CBS News’ streaming service. He begins his new role Feb. 14, 2022, and will report to Khemlani.

Sokoloff, an award-winning booking producer, has been promoted to vice president of bookings for CBS News. In this new role, Sokoloff will lead a centralized Network bookings unit encompassing CBS News’ broadcast and streaming platforms and will report to Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews, executive vice president of Newsgathering for CBS News.

Throughout her career, Sokoloff has held senior editorial roles at CBS MORNINGS, most recently as senior producer and the head of the booking department. She has extensive experience, landing some of the most-talked-about interviews across the network for anchors Gayle King, Norah O’Donnell and others, and she has developed key interviews during breaking news coverage of terrorist attacks, hurricanes, tornadoes and other events across the country. Sokoloff worked at NBC News prior to joining CBS News in 2012.

Reiter, an award-winning journalist and seasoned multiplatform news executive, has been named executive producer of special events for CBS News, reporting to Khemlani. Reiter will oversee breaking news and major global event coverage, including the upcoming State of the Union, CBS News’ midterm elections and election night, across traditional linear and digital platforms.

Reiter has more than 20 years of experience in senior roles at ABC News. He served as executive producer of special events at ABC News from 2017-2021. He helped launch ABC News’ streaming channel and served as executive producer and head of programming. For nearly a decade, 2008-2017, Reiter was vice president and domestic managing editor of newsgathering at ABC News, which included oversight of presidential campaign coverage and the ABC News polling unit. Earlier in his career, Reiter held a series of key positions at ABC News from senior producer of ABC News special events to senior broadcast producer for “ABC World News Tonight Weekend,” to deputy bureau chief of the L.A. bureau and, in 2003, head of the ABC News Baghdad bureau during the Iraq War and fall of Saddam Hussein.