Chris Wallace Departing CNN After 3 Years to Explore Podcasting

Chris Wallace in Cleveland, Ohio on Sept. 29, 2020. Olivier Douliery/AP

Veteran television broadcaster Chris Wallace announced on Monday that he will depart CNN to pursue an independent venture in streaming or podcasting platforms.

The 77-year-old broadcaster told The Daily Beast that he had decided not to renew his three-year contract with CNN when it lapses at the end of the year.

“I have nothing but positive things to say. CNN has been very good to me,” he told the news outlet, describing his decision to leave the network as “quite liberating.”

“This is the first time in 55 years I’ve been between jobs,” Wallace said. “I am actually excited and liberated by that.”

Wallace said that he perceived streaming and podcasting is “where the action seems to be,” noting that podcasters such as Joe Rogan and Charlamagne tha God shaped public discourse during the presidential election.

The broadcaster noted that he is still uncertain about his plans for this new venture.

“Not knowing is part of the challenge. I‘m waiting to see what comes over the transom. It might be something that I haven’t thought of at all,” Wallace said.

CNN chief executive officer Mark Thompson described Wallace as “one of the most respected political journalists in the news business with a unique track record across radio, print, broadcast television, cable television and streaming.”

“We want to thank him for the dedication and wisdom he’s brought to all his work at CNN and to wish him the very best for the future,” Thompson said in a statement to news outlets on Wallace’s departure.

Wallace joined CNN as an anchor for CNN+ in December 2021 after leaving Fox News, where he had worked for nearly two decades.

CNN+ is a subscription streaming service that was launched in March 2022, but it was shut down just a month later after CNN’s former parent company, WarnerMedia, merged with Discovery.

Wallace currently hosts a CNN weekend talk show called “The Chris Wallace Show” on the network, as well as the network’s “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?” show, which streams on Max.

His announcement came just a week after he appeared on CNN’s Election Night coverage, where he said that Vice President Kamala Harris needed “a miracle” to defeat President-elect Donald Trump in the presidential election. Wallace’s decision also came amid the network’s struggle with declining ratings.

“I think when you see current voters saying that by a three-to-one margin that they are dissatisfied with the country or angry,” he said on Nov. 5. “I mean, in conventional terms, it would be a miracle that Kamala Harris could win with that kind of headwind.”