Chris Wallace is quitting CNN after three years as one of its biggest stars, he exclusively told the Daily Beast Monday.
The 77-year-old broadcaster said he will instead find a new home on an independent platform such as streaming or podcasting, which he described as “where the action seems to be.” He highlighted how podcasters including Joe Rogan and Charlamagne tha God had set the agenda during the presidential election, but added, “I don’t flatter myself to think I will have that sort of reach.”
The stunning decision by Wallace to walk away from CNN at the end of his three-year, seven-figure contract, rather than to renegotiate it, is a watershed moment for cable TV. It comes as other anchors face being fired or having salaries cut as declining ratings and cord-cutting hit the industry’s bottom line.
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Wallace was one of the main faces of CNN’s election night coverage last week, correctly forecasting that Kamala Harris would need a “miracle” to win as the first exit polls showed the depths of her electoral difficulty. He came to CNN in 2021 after 18 years at Fox News, where he had interviewed Donald Trump repeatedly and earned praise for his handling of the fiery 2020 presidential debate between Trump and Joe Biden.
But he told the Daily Beast that his career in broadcast television–which began on local TV in Chicago in 1973 and spanned NBC’s The Today Show and Meet The Press, ABC’s PrimeTime Live and Fox News Sunday before he joined CNN–will be over when his contract lapses at the end of the year, describing it as “quite liberating.”
“This is the first time in 55 years I‘ve been between jobs,” he said. “I am actually excited and liberated by that.”
Wallace is considering what streaming or podcast format would work for him, and added, “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.”
CNN wanted to retain Wallace but his decision to quit ahead of contract talks will be seen as a sign of CNN’s waning influence in the media landscape. Its ratings have been consistently down, with its election night coverage falling far behind Fox News. In relative terms, it has slid further and faster than its competitors, Fox and MSNBC, leading to pressure to cut costs.
Wallace emphasized that his decision was not a criticism of his employers. “I have nothing but positive things to say. CNN has been very good to me,” he said. He joined to be one of the key faces of the CNN+ streaming network, only for it to be closed by the new CNN CEO, Chris Licht, a month after going live in March 2022. Wallace anchors The Chris Wallace Show on Saturday mornings and Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?, which streams on Max.
CNN CEO and Chairman Mark Thompson said in a statement: “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. 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.”
His move out of conventional broadcasting, after a career which has seen him win every major award, including three Emmys, comes at what TV executives call an existential moment for the industry. In September, Hoda Kotb caused shockwaves by quitting NBC’s Today Show, amid reports that she had refused to accept a contract lower than $20 million. Other network stars across TV are braced for cuts, while an NBC executive warned of a looming “bloodbath” after Kotb’s departure.
The crisis in conventional TV has been mirrored by a highly disrupted media landscape in which new stars are born on podcasts, streaming and social platforms and existing stars are looking to the same formats to reinvent themselves.
The most successful streamers or independent broadcasters to emerge from traditional television have so far been almost exclusively on the right. Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly have both turned a combination of polemic, conspiracies, lavish praise for Donald Trump and interviews with other MAGA figures into large online followings.
In contrast Wallace’s former CNN colleague Don Lemon has largely failed to find traction with his Don Lemon Show, which he launched as a tie-up up with Elon Musk’s X, featuring a splashy interview with the billionaire. But Musk took exception to the questions and ended the deal. The left-wing polemicist Mehdi Hassan has secured a large following on Substack after quitting MSNBC, meaning that Wallace would be unusual in not being a partisan warrior.
“I am clearly not going to become a hard-right or hard-left advocate. It’s just absent from my DNA,” he said.
Instead, he said he will rely on his own brand, honed over decades of interviews, for clout. “I’ve interviewed presidents, princes, kings and one saint, Mother Teresa,” he said.
He has also, like other anchors, written popular histories. He is working on an addition to his bestselling “Countdown” series, which has so far covered the lead-up to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; the 1960 presidential election; and the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
Wallace said he had decided to strike out in a new direction after talking in spring 2024 with his wife, Lorraine, about his future and resolving that he would “stick around” for the election then decline to renew his contract. The couple have six children and nine grandchildren. “My family just want me to be happy and they want me to keep working,” he said. “They do not want to have to worry about entertaining me.”
Wallace follows in a family tradition by entering a sixth decade in broadcasting, or its modern equivalent. His father, Mike, worked into his 80s and last appeared on 60 Minutes shortly before his 90th birthday.
“I know I want to do something because Wallaces keep working,” he said.
The Chris Wallace Show will finish its run next month and Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace’s last episode will be on Friday as scheduled.
