A veteran global news executive whose rise in television came in Australia has been appointed to the role of EVP/News Operations and Transformation, CBS News and Stations.
He’ll report to CBS News and Stations Presidents and Co-Heads Wendy McMahon and Neeraj Khemlani in a newly created senior leadership role, in which he will be responsible for “reimagining and aligning” the News Operations and Engineering functions across CBS News and Stations.
Taking the post is Ross Dagan.
Dagan assumes his new responsibilities next month and will be based in New York.
It’s a transfer, of sorts, as he’s joining CBS News and Stations after having most recently served as Network Director of News Content at Network 10, the ViacomCBS-owned network based in Sydney, since 2018.
While there, Dagan oversaw major editorial and operational changes, positioning the network to grow against historically strong Nine Network, and competitors Seven Network and government-funded Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC).
“We are very pleased to welcome Ross to our CBS News and Stations family,” McMahon said. “As we continue the process of bringing together our wide portfolio of broadcast, streaming and digital resources, it is vital to have an inspiring organizational leader who is able to embrace the distinctive elements of our local, national and global news operations, break down silos, and manifest a modernized and maximized operations nucleus that will allow CBS News and Stations to become much greater than the sum of their individual parts.”
Khemlani added, “We are thoroughly impressed with Ross’ record of achievement as a change management leader and how he approaches newsgathering operations with an editorial point of view. He has successfully worked across international borders and different cultures to bring teams together and drive success in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the Middle East. We look forward to having Ross leverage his experience in business, tech and newsgathering, as he works with the talented teams we already have in place to unify our efforts and strategize opportunities for future growth and innovation.”
Dagan commented, “I am excited to have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play a role in the unification and transformation of CBS’ local, national and global news organization. It will be a privilege to work with the people who have already made CBS’ network news, digital and local offerings best-in-class operations, and collectively chart a course for raising the bar in terms of how we manage newsgathering, align technology and create new workflows.”
Dagan is currently serving his second tour of duty with Network 10. He previously was the network’s Director of News, splitting his time between Sydney and Brisbane, Australia, where he had day-to-day responsibility for the network’s news programming in those markets from 2007-2012.
Dagan’s background also includes a combined five years with Al Jazeera English, where he served as Executive Producer from 2015-2018. During that time, he was instrumental in the evolution of how editorial content was produced, presented and shared across platforms, launching the first new news programming in a decade. From 2006-2007, he served as Program Editor of Al Jazeera English, as a senior member of the leadership team in Kuala Lumpur that launched the network.
Dagan served two stints with the Seven Network, including as Director of News, based in Brisbane, from 2013-2015, and Director of News for Seven Queensland from 2001-2005.
His background also includes working for Television New Zealand (TVNZ) as Head of News and Current Affairs, Maori and Pacific Programs, based in Auckland, from 2012-2013.
— RBR+TVBR West Coast Bureau, with reports from Brisbane, Qld.
