CNN is announcing layoffs as part of a further shift to digital business

Author of the article:

The Associated Press

David Bauder

Published Jan 23, 2025  •  3 minute read

FILE - Signage is seen at the CNN Center in Atlanta on April 21, 2022. Photo by Mike Stewart /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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.

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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. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social

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