The broadcaster announced Sunday that Moonves would be ending his 20-year tenure at the company – rumours have followed that Moonves is being paid tens of millions of dollars in severance. However, CBS said that a $20 million donation to organisations that support the #MeToo movement and workplace equity for women will come out of that package.

In the wake of the shake-up, Joseph Ianniello, who has been the CBS COO since 2013, will serve as president and acting CEO, while the board looks for a new CEO.

Moonves was already facing accusations, which emerged in August, but Ronan Farrow of The New Yorker reported over the weekend that "six additional women have accused the television executive of sexual misconduct, as the board of the CBS Corporation weighs the terms of his departure."

The CBS board has hired two law firms to carry out an investigation. Now the firms have even more to examine.

The news comes amid a battle for control of CBS between Moonves and the company's controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone.

Redstone, daughter of retired Viacom mogul Sumner Redstone, wants CBS and sister media company Viacom to merge – a move that Moonves and the CBS board of directors have had reservations about. Moonves had wanted Ianniello to be president and COO of the merged entity, and to succeed him as CEO when he retired. The Redstone family instead wants Viacom CEO Bob Bakish to be the No 2 and succeed Moonves when the time comes. The impasse has led to months-long legal showdown – and Moonves’ exit is sure to be good news for Redstone.