New York, Sept 16: CNN replaced the head of its US news operations on Monday and changed its structure to make it more nimble, as the first 24-hour news network seeks to regain the lead it lost to the upstart Fox News Channel. Teya Ryan resigned as executive vice president and general manager of CNN-US, the network's parent AOL Time Warner Inc. said on Monday, and will be replaced by Princell Hair, a television news executive at Viacom Inc.

"A fundamental component of our operating structure is built for yesterday, not tomorrow," said Jim Walton, CNN News Group President in a statement.

Hair was vice president of news for Viacom's television stations group, with 39 stations. Before that, he was a news director at stations in Los Angeles and Baltimore.
Analysts questioned Hair's news pedigree and ability to lift CNN out of its No. 2 status. Bureau Report