CNN announced a restructuring Thursday that includes about 200 layoffs, an accelerated pivot to digital operations and new television roles for personalities such as Wolf Blitzer, Jake Tapper and Audie Cornish.
It’s the boldest rebuild yet 18-month mandate of CEO Mark Thompson, a former chief executive at the New York Times and the BBC called by parent company Warner Bros. Discovery to revive the fortunes of the flagship newspaper.
The cuts have focused on CNN’s TV business, where ratings have fallen as consumers ditch cable and look for other news sources. They will eventually be offset by new hires at 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 are actually supporting ourselves with increased investment.”
Layoffs have either occurred or are predicted 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 with 8 million for Joe Biden’s inauguration four years ago, although audiences can fluctuate based on the political stance of the person being inaugurated.
CNN also took a financial hit — how much is unclear — when a jury in Florida last week found the network responsible For defaming a US Navy veteran in a story involving a paid effort to extract endangered Afghans after the Taliban took over their country. The network settled the case before the jury could fully award damages.
CNN announced Thursday that it was developing a product that would allow consumers to watch a TV-like video broadcast on any device, though it won’t be Simulcast TV. There was no estimated start date.
Under Thompson, CNN has quietly redesigned and introduced new features to its CNN.com site. Late last year, it created a $3.99 and $29.99 monthly subscription for its heaviest users, and is working on new online products in areas such as lifestyle, weather and sports.
In some respects, Thompson is trying to do for CNN what he did at The Times, where his digital products modernized the newspaper’s business. Executives are hoping that CNN’s video component and international presence will provide growth opportunities that will not duplicate time.
CNN’s transformation “is not and cannot be a single set of changes, but a process of investment, experimentation and adaptation that will take years,” Thompson said in a memo to CNN staff. “Our objective is simple: to shift CNN’s gravity to the platforms and products where audiences themselves are moving.”
CNN is seeking savings in television with a leaner staff and a transfer of some of its technical operations to its Atlanta bureau.
The network announced a series of schedule changes: Veteran anchor Blitzer’s “Situation Room” will move from 10 p.m. ET, 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, “Arena,” at 4 a.m.; And Rahel Solomon will do a show, “The 5 Things,” at 5 in the morning
Left for now is current brunch host Jim Acosta, a frequent sparring partner of Trump during the president’s first term. He is negotiating a new role, CNN said, after he reportedly got stuck on a late-night assignment.
Aside from cord-cutting, the network’s biggest challenge is reaching Trump supporters who consider the network enemy territory. Many supporters, in fact, took to the Internet Thursday to blast Glee with the thought of layoffs there.
“Not only is Trump stronger than he’s ever been in his political career, he may have killed the Media Legacy as we know it,” radio host and Outkick founder Clay Travis wrote on X.
Thompson said he wanted CNN to distinguish itself with strong journalism and fact-checking to let viewers make up their own minds about issues. He pointed to Abby Phillip’s prime-time show as one of the few on cable news that allows people of widely divergent views to debate issues.
“I think we should calmly and patiently continue 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