CBS Interactive CEO Jim Lanzone, who oversaw the launch of CBS All Access and other streaming services, will depart the company at the end of 2019.
Marc DeBevoise, current president and chief operating officer at the company, will take over as the new chief executive. Lanzone is leaving to take a role as executive-in-residence at Benchmark Capital.
“Jim has led CBS Interactive through a tremendous growth period, both as an operator and as someone who had the foresight to place CBS on the cutting edge of the digital media landscape. CBS All Access and our other streaming services have proven to be game-changing opportunities for the company,” said Joe Ianniello, president and acting chief executive officer of CBS, in a statement. “Jim and Marc’s partnership has been instrumental in our digital transformation, and I’m pleased we will have a natural transition with Marc leading CBS Interactive going forward.”
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“It’s been an honor to lead the CBS Interactive team for nearly nine years, and I’m thrilled that Marc will seamlessly continue the great work we’ve done together,” said Lanzone in a statement. “Marc was one of the first executives I hired back in 2011, and he has been central to our digital transformation of CBS ever since. We’ve been planning this transition together since early in the year, and I know our team is in great hands going forward.”
Lanzone led CBS Interactive in launching not only All Access but also CBSN, CBS Sports HQ and ET Live. The company said it’s now the seventh-largest internet property in the United States, according to Comscore, reaching 190 million monthly unique users, up from 70 million in 2011.
DeBevoise will be tasked with steering CBS Interactive after the CBS-Viacom merger finalizes, and will be expected to help All Access and Showtime reach their goal of 25 million combined OTT subscribers by 2022.
During last month’s NAB Show New York, DeBevoise elaborated on All Access’ accelerating original content strategy. All Access has grown into a varied offer that combines live TV access, a deep library, a lineup of ad-supported streaming networks and a growing slate of originals like “Star Trek: Discovery,” “Why Women Kill,” “No Activity,” “The Good Fight” and the upcoming “Star Trek: Picard.” DeBevoise said All Access has a big show scheduled for release every month and a tentpole event show for every quarter in 2020. He described it as building a premium network on top of a broader platform service.