Chris Wallace, an Emmy-winning broadcaster whose career spans more than five decades, is quitting CNN after three years, the veteran journalist announced Monday.
Wallace — who spent nearly two decades as the host of “Fox News Sunday” before joining CNN in early 2022 — will depart the network at the end of the year when this three-year contract is set to expire, the 77-year-old news anchor confirmed to The Daily Beast.
The move, which he described as “quite liberating,” will mark the first time in 55 years Wallace will be “in between jobs.”
Wallace — who got his start in journalism as a teenager working as an assistant to Walter Cronkite during the 1964 Republican National Convention — says he now wants to focus his career on streaming and podcasting, which he described as “where the action seems to be.”
Prior to his debut on CNN’s short-lived streaming service CNN+ in March 2022, Wallace said he “no longer felt comfortable with the programming at Fox,” citing his former employer’s coverage of the Jan. 6 insurrection and its aftermath, which he called “unsustainable.”
But he says his decision not to renew his current, seven-figure contract should not be understood as a criticism of CNN.
“I have nothing but positive things to say,” he said. “CNN has been very good to me.”
One of the network’s faces of the 2024 election coverage, Wallace currently anchors “The Chris Wallace Show,” which airs on Saturday mornings and “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?” a talk show consisting of interviews with a variety of guests — from reality television personality Bethenny Frankel, to Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, to comedy legend Carol Burnett — which streams on Max.
“Chris Wallace is 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,” CNN CEO Mark Thompson said in a statement Monday. “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.”