CNN boss defends sweeping layoffs as panicked staffers react to TV bloodbath
CNN CEO Mark Thompson defended his decision to layoff 200 workers and promised increased investment but a change in strategy following the Thursday bloodbath.
An insider told DailyMail.com Thursday that they made huge cuts to their TV division because it has become so 'bloated' and overstaffed with people who do the bare minimum.
The layoffs are concentrated in CNN's TV business, where ratings have tumbled as consumers cut off cable and seek other news sources.
They will eventually be offset by new hires in digital, where Warner Bros. Discovery is making a $70 million investment, CNN said.
Thompson, making the biggest headlines of his 18-month tenure in charge of the network, said in an interview that they were not trying to save money.
'This is not a cost-saving exercise, we're actually leaning in with increased investments,' he said.
However, a source told DailyMail.com that: 'Layoffs all the time - they needed to cut the fat.'
CNN's transformation 'isn't and can't be a single set of changes but a process of investment, experimentation and adaptation that will last years,' Thompson said in a memo to CNN staff.
CNN CEO Mark Thompson defended his decision to layoff 200 workers and promises increased investment but a change in strategy following the Thursday bloodbath
An insider told DailyMail.com Thursday that they made huge cuts to their TV division because it has become so 'bloated' and overstaffed with people who do the bare minimum
'Our objective is a simple one: to shift CNN's gravity towards the platforms and products where the audience themselves are shifting.'
However, there is a clear edict for journalists to be more professional and impartial in the second era of Donald Trump.
'I think we need to quietly and patiently get on with our jobs as journalists,' he said.
Thompson said he wanted CNN to distinguish itself with hard-hitting journalism and fact-checking to let viewers make up their own minds on issues.
He noted Abby Phillip's prime-time program as one of the few in cable news that allows people with widely divergent views to debate issues.
Layoffs have either taken place or are anticipated across the news industry. C
CNN's ratings have taken a hit since the election of President Donald Trump, a longtime critic of the network.
The network averaged 1.7 million viewers for Trump's inauguration this week, compared to 8 million for Joe Biden's inaugural four years ago, though audience can fluctuate based on the political stance of the person being inaugurated.
CNN's transformation 'isn't and can't be a single set of changes but a process of investment, experimentation and adaptation that will last years,' Thompson said in a memo to CNN staff
CNN's ratings have taken a hit since the election of President Donald Trump, a longtime critic of the network
CNN announced Thursday it was developing a product that would allow consumers to watch a TV-like video stream on any device, although it won't be TV simulcast. There was no estimated launch date.
Under Thompson, CNN has quietly redesigned and offered new features on its CNN.com website.
Late last year, it instituted a $3.99 monthly and $29.99 yearly subscription for its heaviest users, and is working on new online products in areas like lifestyle, weather and sports.
The failing TV business announced a restructuring that includes new roles for personalities like Wolf Blitzer, Jake Tapper and Audie Cornish.
It's the boldest revamp yet in the 18-month tenure of CEO Mark Thompson, a former chief executive at The New York Times and BBC called upon by parent company Warner Bros. Discovery to revive the news outlet's flagging fortunes.
The network announced a series of schedule changes: veteran anchor Blitzer's 'Situation Room' will move from the evening to 10 a.m. Eastern, where he will be joined by Pamela Brown.
Tapper's two-hour show will now begin at 5 p.m.; Cornish will host 'CNN This Morning' beginning at 6 a.m.; Kasie Hunt will host a new show, 'The Arena,' at 4 p.m.; and Rahel Solomon will do a show, '5 Things,' at 5 a.m.
Left out for now is current late morning host Jim Acosta, a frequent Trump sparring partner during the president's first term.
After the layoffs were confirmed, The LA Times penned a report indicating that Acosta may now 'exit the network, according to people familiar with his thinking.' The network is in talks with Acosta - an anchor who often found himself at odds with Trump - about a new role
While big names like Kaitlan Collins will be spared, CNN's TV lineup is facing a dramatic restructure
He's negotiating a new role, CNN said, after he reportedly balked at a late-night assignment.
Besides cord-cutting, the television network's biggest challenge is reaching Trump supporters who consider the network enemy territory.
The source added that the network is 'very duplicative' - with many workers whose roles closely overlap - and that it is a 'money pit.'
In a statement issued Thursday morning, Thompson warned that future is still unclear - while revealing to The New York Times how CNN is now set to roll out a streaming service that will feature all of its most well-known stars.
The layoffs, as a result, will affect the network's traditional TV operations, he said - though it still remains unclear if any big names were affected.
CNN has yet to say whether any big name TV stars are among those being shown the door.
The old Times and BBC boss was initially brought in in 2023 to lead the network, and ratings have since dropped more than 20 percent. Adding insult to injury was the network's struggles on election day, with primetime ratings falling even more since.
Following a Trump presidency and a term from Biden, it is losing to Fox News and even MSNBC. This comes after years of it enjoying the top spot in terms of cable news, something Thompson could not help but mention in his statement.
Thompson - once the chief executive of The Times - told the paper he is replacing Jim Acosta’s 10 am show with 'The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown,' confirming reports that emerged last week
Thompson said he wanted CNN to distinguish itself with hard-hitting journalism and fact-checking to let viewers make up their own minds on issues. He noted Abby Phillip's prime-time program as one of the few in cable news that allows people with widely divergent views to debate issues
'In the end, this is about CNN being - as it has been in its history - an indispensable way in which many, many millions of people get their news,' he told the Times of the layoffs, initially reported in November.
He also revealed how CNN is now set to roll out a streaming service - one that will serve as a potential replacement to its TV programming.
'This is a moment where the digital story feels like an existential question,' he told the paper he led for almost eight years. 'If we do not follow the audiences to the new platforms with real conviction and scale, our future prospects will not be good.'
Thompson also told his staff the future of the network is digital - and that giving people the news they want, when they want it, is the nature of the beast.
A streaming service could combat bottlenecks created by certain shows airing at scheduled times, he said.
The British media exec also revealed another digital venture set to come later this year - a subscription product surrounding 'lifestyle' content.
The content would cater to those interested in food and fitness. That said, Thompson refused to offer any more details.
Both efforts, he said, are funded by a $70million investment from parent company Warner Bros Discovery, the multibillion-dollar behemoth created by a $43billion merger in 2022.
The layoffs, meanwhile, come as longtime stars like Anderson Cooper continue to take home salaries of $20million
Thompson has also told staff how he wanted them to keep their biases to themselves, and refrain from honing in on the president's criminal history
Months after the merger, Thompson filled the position left by then-languishing leader Chris Licht, following the ouster of longtime leader Jeff Zucker in 2022 over consensual relationship with key lieutenant.
Under Zucker, CNN had decidedly better numbers in primetime, around 1.25 million. Today, it's under 700,000.
Right-leaning Fox hosts like Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity, and Greg Gutfeld over on Fox News have since stolen the limelight, averaging 2.8 million viewers in the same timeslots today.
That's the most in a field currently being affected by streaming, as well as a changing cable audience as more and more Americans ditch more traditional sources of media for content and apps available on smart phones and computers.
Before Thompson was brought on, CNN already subject to a failure on that front in the form of CNN+, which was pulled after just a month in early 2022.
Then, 16 months later, the nixed streaming service was effectively replaced by CNN Max, which is still available and includes access to Warner Bros. Discovery brands like HBO, Food Network and HGTV.
However, only some of the station's signature shows are available, such as CNN Newsroom, which, following Thursday's announcement, will no longer feature Acosta.
Before the layoffs were confirmed, The LA Times penned a report indicating that Acosta may now 'exit the network, according to people familiar with his thinking.'
CNN has already begun laying off the first of what is set to be hundreds of staffers as mainstream media begins to cut jobs with Donald Trump returning to the White House
President Trump commented on the matter on Truth Social
The paper obtained memo sent to staffers once the layoffs went through, in which Thompson said 'The changes we’re announcing today are part of an ongoing response by this great news organization to profound shifts in the way audiences in America consume news.
'It’s the early days, but we’ve already established that there’s immense demand for it not just in America but around the world.'
CNN’s website launched a $3.99 paywall in October, joining several other news stations and publications in doing so. The decision came months after it laid off 100 employees. The more recent wave amounts to 6 percent of the station's work force.
Thompson has been calling for more digital progress on CNN's part for nearly two years, during which time staff repeatedly indicated to other outlets that changes were coming.
Among these changes have been a push toward vertical videos, Thompson said - pointing to the plethora of shorter clips found on apps like Instagram.
'You can use your thumb to flick from a CNN news story to a CNN anchor to a reporter,' he said of the form of media delivery popular with younger people who peruse news on their phones.
'That’s a really interesting experiment,' he said, with plans to publish 50 to 100 of these videos per day.
That's not the only experiment Thompson is wrapped up in, though - with the other being an abrupt tone-down in Trump reporting.
Those planes emerged in the form of insider statements sent around this week, the day before Trump's swearing-in, detailing how Thompson told staff how he wanted them to keep biases to themselves, and refrain from honing in on Trump's criminal history.
He 'made it clear that he did not want the coverage to relitigate the past', former CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy, in his Status newsletter, wrote at the time, adding that all the network's biggest names, including Jake Tapper and Anderon Cooper, were in attendance.
Last month, The Ankler reported that Tapper and Blitzer were denied raises, and that officials had been mulling a pay cut for Chris Wallace.
Wallace has since resigned, as insiders said would have likely been on the receiving end of a pay cut if he had decided to stay.
The 77-year-old had reportedly been making $7 million a year, while Cooper continues to take home $20million.
