CNN is announcing layoffs as part of a further shift to digital business
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[January 24, 2025] By
DAVID BAUDER
CNN announced a restructuring Thursday that includes some 200 layoffs,
an accelerated pivot to digital operations and new TV 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 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.
“This is not a cost-saving exercise,” Thompson said in an interview.
“We're actually leaning in with increased investments.”
Layoffs have either taken place or are anticipated across the news
industry. CNN's ratings have taken a hit since the election of President
Donald Trump, a longtime critic of the network. CNN 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 also took a financial hit — how much is unclear — when a Florida
jury last week found the network liable for defaming a U.S. Navy veteran
on a story involving a paid effort to extract endangered Afghans
following their country's Taliban takeover. The network settled the case
before the jury could fully decide damages.
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.
In some respects, Thompson is trying to do for CNN what he did at the
Times, where its digital products modernized the newspaper's business.
Executives are hoping CNN's video component and international presence
offers growth opportunities that won't duplicate the Times.
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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. “Our objective is a simple one: to shift
CNN’s gravity towards the platforms and products where the audience
themselves are shifting."
CNN is looking for savings in television with a leaner staff and a
transfer of some of its technical operations to its Atlanta office.
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. 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.
Many supporters, in fact, went online Thursday to express glee at
the thought of layoffs there.
“Not only is Trump stronger than he's ever been in his political
career, he may well have killed legacy media as we know it,” radio
host and OutKick founder Clay Travis wrote on X.
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.
“I think we need to quietly and patiently get on with our jobs as
journalists,” he said.
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David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and
entertainment for the AP.
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