Richard Parsons' rushed departure from the CBS board of directors adds to the behind-the-scenes drama

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CBS
announced today that the acting Chair of the Board, Richard

Parsons
, one of the most respected executives in the industry, resigned for health reasons after less than a month and would be replaced immediately by Strauss Zelnick, a former director who currently runs the video game publisher Take-Two Interactive.

When Parsons was appointed acting president on Sept. 25, he was treated for a type of blood cancer called multiple myeloma and he felt that the health problems were "manageable." according to a statement from CBS.

"Unfortunately, the unplanned complications created new challenges, and my doctors advised reducing my current commitments was critical to my overall recovery," Parsons said in his release.

Parsons, former CEO of Time Warner, During his brief tenure on the CBS Board of Directors, he notably negotiated the departure of his CEO, Leslie Moonves, after charges of sexual harassment and sexual assault were laid against him. , which he vehemently denied.

According to the New York Times, Parsons was instrumental in appointing Moonves' lieutenant Joseph Ianniello to the post of interim general manager and helped install six new board members. He also helped resolve a controversial legal battle between CBS, based in New York, and its controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, about a possible merger between CBS and Viacom, which she advocated and at which Moon is opposite. As part of the settlement, Redstone, whose family owns a controlling interest in CBS and Viacom through National Amusements, agreed not to raise the merger issue for about two years.

Zelnick, former president of 20th Century Fox and CEO of Columbia Music Entertainment, will assume the role of acting president of CBS. He already has a full plate because the board is waiting for the results of an investigation on Moonves and similar allegations against him. 60 minutes executive producer Jeff Fager, who denied the allegations against him.

The board must also find a permanent CBS CEO who can lead the company in the ever-changing media landscape, where broadcast and cable networks are losing their advertisers to Facebook and Google and their audiences due to broadcast services. continuously such as Netflix. According to the Times, Ianniello is a candidate for the position and has already made several key appointments, including the installation of Showtime's chief, David Nevins, as the newly created Creative Director.

Mary Jo White, former President of the SEC and a lawyer Nancy Kestenbaum of Covington & Burling, a former federal prosecutor who internal investigations allegations of sexual abuse in several preparatory schools, conduct a separate internal survey on corporate culture at CBS.

(Disclosure: I have already written for CBSNews.com at Freelance.)

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CBS
announced today that the acting Chair of the Board, Richard

Parsons
, one of the most respected executives in the industry, resigned for health reasons after less than a month and would be replaced immediately by Strauss Zelnick, a former director who currently runs the video game publisher Take-Two Interactive.

When Parsons was appointed acting president on Sept. 25, he was treated for a type of blood cancer called multiple myeloma and he felt that the health problems were "manageable." according to a statement from CBS.

"Unfortunately, the unplanned complications created new challenges, and my doctors advised reducing my current commitments was critical to my overall recovery," Parsons said in his release.

Parsons, former CEO of Time Warner, During his brief tenure on the CBS Board of Directors, he notably negotiated the departure of his CEO, Leslie Moonves, after charges of sexual harassment and sexual assault were laid against him. , which he vehemently denied.

According to the New York Times, Parsons was instrumental in appointing Moonves' lieutenant Joseph Ianniello to the post of interim general manager and helped install six new board members. He also helped resolve a controversial legal battle between CBS, based in New York, and its controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, about a possible merger between CBS and Viacom, which she advocated and at which Moon is opposite. As part of the settlement, Redstone, whose family owns a controlling interest in CBS and Viacom through National Amusements, agreed not to raise the merger issue for about two years.

Zelnick, former president of 20th Century Fox and CEO of Columbia Music Entertainment, will assume the role of acting president of CBS. He already has a full plate because the board is waiting for the results of an investigation on Moonves and similar allegations against him. 60 minutes executive producer Jeff Fager, who denied the allegations against him.

The board must also find a permanent CBS CEO who can lead the company in the ever-changing media landscape, where broadcast and cable networks are losing their advertisers to Facebook and Google and their audiences due to broadcast services. continuously such as Netflix. According to the Times, Ianniello is a candidate for the position and has already made several key appointments, including the installation of Showtime's chief, David Nevins, as the newly created Creative Director.

Mary Jo White, former President of the SEC and a lawyer Nancy Kestenbaum of Covington & Burling, a former federal prosecutor who internal investigations allegations of sexual abuse in several preparatory schools, conduct a separate internal survey on corporate culture at CBS.

(Disclosure: I have already written for CBSNews.com at Freelance.)