Christiane Amanpour to Leave CNN in June After 43 Years, Ending Daily Shows This Year

Christiane Amanpour, CNN’s chief international anchor, announced on Monday that she will leave the network at the end of June 2027, ending a 43-year career at the channel that made her one of the most recognisable foreign correspondents in the world.

Amanpour, 68, made the announcement in a statement and on her own programme. “After many months of thought and a few sleepless nights, I have decided to separate from CNN, my partner of 43 fantastic years,” she said. She added that she looks forward to “interesting new projects down the line” and will always be rooting for CNN and its history of independent journalism. The announcement was widely described as a surprise, given how closely her name has been tied to the network’s global identity for more than four decades.

The departure will happen in stages. Amanpour said she will end her daily shows across CNN and PBS at the end of this year, then continue with a weekly show on CNN through May and work on a smooth transition through June. Her eponymous programme, “Amanpour,” which she has hosted on CNN International since 2009, will be scaled back to once a week in early 2027 and will conclude in May. Her PBS programme, “Amanpour & Company,” will end in December. In practice, that means viewers will see her on weekdays until the end of the year, once a week from early 2027 and then not at all after the final broadcasts next summer.

CNN chief Mark Thompson shared the news with staff in a memo. He wrote that Amanpour had thought carefully about the decision and that the two had been discussing it for some months. “I’m very sorry to see her go,” he wrote, adding that he had come to accept that it is the right time for her, both personally and professionally. He thanked her on behalf of CNN’s leadership for 43 years of “remarkable journalism, loyalty and friendship.” Amanpour, for her part, thanked everyone she had worked with, particularly her show teams and field crews, and described the experience as an incredible journey.

Amanpour joined CNN in 1983 and became best known as a foreign correspondent, reporting from conflict zones around the world and later anchoring the network’s international interview programming. Her reporting from war zones helped define the network’s reputation in the 1990s, and she became a household name in many countries as a result. She has since interviewed presidents, prime ministers and activists, and her show has been a fixture of CNN International’s schedule for more than 15 years. She has not said what she will do next.

Her career has been recognised with some of television journalism’s most prestigious awards. As of 2017, when she took over an interview slot on PBS after the exit of Charlie Rose, she had won 11 Emmy Awards, four Peabody Awards and two George Polk Awards. The PBS programme that followed began as an interim arrangement and grew into a long-running part of her work, bringing her international reporting to American public television audiences for nearly a decade. Its end in December will close that chapter too.

The announcement comes at a time of change for the network. David Ellison, whose company Skydance has taken control of CNN after closing an $81 billion purchase of Warner Bros., took over earlier this month, according to Mediaite. Amanpour had expressed concern months earlier about Skydance’s acquisition of the network, the Daily Beast reported. Neither Amanpour nor CNN has said the ownership change is connected to her decision, and Thompson said the discussions had been under way for months, which means the timing may be a coincidence. Even so, the exit of one of the network’s best-known faces so soon after a change in ownership is likely to draw attention from media observers, who will be watching for signs of how the new owners plan to shape the channel’s international coverage.

Amanpour’s personal health has also been part of the public conversation. A year ago, she announced that her ovarian cancer had returned for a third time, though she said at the time that it was being “very well managed.” She did not mention her health in connection with Monday’s announcement, and there is no indication that it is linked to her decision. In her statement, she focused on her gratitude to her colleagues and on the new projects she hopes to pursue.

Also Read: Fighting in Yemen Cuts Off Food Aid to 800,000 People as Taiz Runs Low on Flour and Hospitals Near Breaking Point

Her departure leaves a gap in CNN’s international coverage. Amanpour has been the network’s chief international anchor, the face of its global interviews with leaders and activists, and one of the few anchors whose reputation was built mainly on reporting from the field. How CNN will fill that role has not been announced, and the network has not said whether the weekly show will continue in any form after June 2027. Thompson’s memo focused on thanking her and on the transition plan rather than on what comes next for the programme.

The move also reflects wider changes in the news business. Television networks have been reshaping their schedules as audiences move to streaming and social platforms, and veteran presenters have increasingly looked for new formats outside traditional broadcasting. Amanpour’s mention of “interesting new projects” leaves open the possibility of a move into podcasting, long-form documentaries, writing or another independent venture, though she has given no details. Her long record of interviews and field reporting gives her options that few anchors can match.

For viewers, the change will be gradual. For the network, the departure is a test of how it will define its international identity under new ownership, and of whether it can keep the global audience that Amanpour helped to build. For Amanpour, it is the start of a new chapter whose shape she has not yet disclosed. What is clear is that, after 43 years, one of the most familiar voices in international television is preparing to sign off, and that the next eight months will be a long goodbye.