- CNN said it will cut about 200 roles focused on its television operations.
- The news organization also plans to hire about the same number in digital-focused positions.
- CEO Mark Thompson said last year that he wanted to “future proof” CNN.
CNN, the cable news giant owned by Warner Bros. Discovery said it would cut around 200 TV-focused roles as part of a digital pivot.
The company also said it will hire about the same number of employees in digitally-focused roles and aim to fill 100 of them in the coming months.
The cuts would affect about 6% of CNN’s workforce, although the new roles mean the total headcount is unlikely to be significantly affected.
WBD is offering $70 million in funding as part of an effort to reach $1 billion in digital revenue by 2030.
Mark Thompson, CNN’s CEO, told staff in a memo Thursday that he intended to “shift CNN’s gravity toward the platforms and products where the audience itself is moving and, in doing so, secure CNN’s future as one of the the greatest in the world”. news organizations”.
CNN also said it planned to introduce a news streaming product accessible on devices in the US and elsewhere.
In October, CNN introduced a “pagwall,” charging some of its most loyal readers $4 a month for access to digital content.
Thompson, a former chief executive of The New York Times Company and director general of the BBC, took over at CNN in 2023. He cut about 100 jobs in July as part of what he called an effort to “ protect the future” against the company. The decline of cable news.
Read the memo Thompson sent to CNN staff.
Dear all, Two weeks ago, at our first town hall of 2025, I told you that I knew there was a lot of anxiety at CNN about the upcoming organizational changes and that, as soon as we were able to go into detail about the changes, we would immediately. That moment has come, and today you’ll hear not just from me, but from some of my old colleagues about the next phase of change at CNN. The changes we’re announcing today are part of an ongoing response by this major news organization to profound and irreversible changes in the way audiences in America and around the world consume news. From linear to digital, fixed to mobile, traditional long-form broadcasting in any number of different formats and use cases. It is not and cannot be a single set of changes, but a process of investment, experimentation and adaptation that will last for years. Our objective is simple: to shift CNN’s gravity to the platforms and products where the audience itself is moving, and in doing so, secure CNN’s future as one of the world’s largest news organizations. America and the world need quality, fair-minded and reliable news sources more than ever. This difficult and sometimes painful process of change is the only way to ensure that we can provide it. Today’s news is primarily about investing in that future. Yes, there are job losses — about 6% of CNN’s current workforce will be affected — but we don’t expect total headcount to drop much this year, if at all. That’s because of the $70 million we’re investing in our digital plans and the many new jobs it will pay for. Some of that money is going into products and technology, but a lot is also going into high-quality journalism and new storytelling. This is what we stand for. It is also the heart of any successful digital news strategy. At the same time, I know that regardless of the total number of job losses, the impact on the individuals involved can be tremendous. The process of change is essential if we are to thrive in the future, but I acknowledge and deplore its very real human consequences. My colleagues will go into more detail about the changes, but here’s a summary of the main headlines: live CNN Max has been an incredible resource for us. We’ve been able to get our journalism and storytelling content in front of Max’s 110 million global subscribers and test and learn to see what programs a mass broadcast audience engages with, spends time with, and returns to time and time again. service to consume. We will continue to have a strong presence in Max, but we also believe that it is not a complete answer for the future of CNN’s large linear experience. Today, I can announce that we plan to develop a new way for digital subscribers at home and abroad to stream news programs from us on any device they choose. It’s early days, but we’ve already proven that there’s a huge demand for it not just in America, but in most of the world. We’ll have more to say about this new digital product in the coming months, including content plans and how we’ll work with our existing and future distribution partners to bring this to market. digital The new Digital Products and Services organization has accomplished much in the short nine months since Alex MacCallum joined CNN to lead it, including creating our first direct-to-consumer subscription product, launching vertical video carousels across all our digital platforms, refreshing the entire CNN.com site, launching the Digital Magic Wall and live commenting module, creating new innovation teams and building analytics new data and digital support business skills, and many more besides. Now, in addition to working on the development of this new broadcast product, Alex will announce a number of further initiatives, including another major focus on digital video, the development and launch of CNN’s first lifestyle-oriented digital product , working with News to innovate our multimedia storytelling capabilities and create new premium digital advertising experiences to drive sustainable and scalable advertising revenue. She will also detail a restructuring of her leadership team, to include the creation of new Content and Transformation, Audience and Features teams to complement her direct reports. With that, we’re also posting many new roles at all levels of the organization as part of Warner Bros.’ investment. Discovery on this strategic work and CNN’s path forward. Recruiting the right people will take some time, but we hope to open and fill at least 100 new positions in the coming months to help implement the new plans. A new TV schedule Innovation also affects our traditional television experience. For many years to come, and regardless of our broadcast plans, the most economically significant expressions of CNN’s television experience will be our two great television services: CNN, America’s historic cable channel entering its 45th year in 2025, and CNN International. Today, we’re announcing refreshed times for the domestic weekday line-up that bring energy and a competitive edge to our offering. A revised international schedule will follow in a few days. These changes aim to strengthen our all-day domestic schedule and deliver international programming to a wider audience around the world. We are able to achieve this with this new schedule, which will be shared and widely distributed later today, while also putting our production costs on a stable footing to accommodate the changing economics of linear television platforms. Like the rest of our industry, we must respond to these economies if we are to maintain high quality service to our existing loyal audience. We are also reorganizing and streamlining some important aspects of how we GENERATING our ongoing television programs. The changes we made to breakfast programming a year ago improved performance and reduced costs. Building on that successful experiment and with similar goals in mind, we now plan to change the way we deliver programming elsewhere in the schedule. Starting today, Eric Sherling and John Davies will walk colleagues through these changes. FURTHER MODERNIZATION of our newsroom In 2024, our newsroom took on the complex and challenging task of merging into a single integrated organization, breaking down silos between separate digital, TV and international newsrooms. After only a few months of the new structure, we have seen measurable progress and clear signs that our new Follow the Sun structure is working. We’ve seen it help us capture breaking global news as it happens and deliver the resulting content simultaneously across multiple formats and platforms. The editorial team has also been challenged to deliver exceptional subscriber-only content to support our new digital subscription business, as well as playing a key role alongside digital products and services in developing our vertical and feature plans. . Today, we are making further announcements at the Global News organization. We are creating a new video news editorial organization as the next phase in our efforts to coordinate and strengthen our video capabilities across all of them platforms, including linear TV. We are transforming our DC office to align with our new multiplatform model, which we introduced elsewhere last summer. We are integrating CNN en Español more closely into the core CNN Global News operation. We’re opening an important new senior role in the news organization and welcoming some outstanding new leaders — including Phil Rucker from the Washington Post as SVP of Editorial Strategy and News and a new London Bureau Chief to which you will hear soon. WORK IMPACTS As I noted at the top, some of today’s announcements mean significant new job opportunities at CNN, but others will lead to the loss of some valued colleagues. This too is an unwanted but inevitable part of the change process. We will aim to contact any colleagues who will be affected by these changes as soon as possible – and we will of course help and support them in any way we can afterwards. In the year and a quarter since I arrived at CNN, we’ve had a remarkable period of news and have already made significant progress in our transition into the future. I am grateful to each of these colleagues for all they have done for this company in my time and in previous years. Moving forward 2025 has just begun, and yet we’ve seen more than enough news at home and abroad to be reminded of how important it is for this major news organization to succeed. Given our brand and reputation, given the incredible talent we have, given the spirit of innovation and dedication that has always been a hallmark of CNN, I truly believe we can do just that. Thank you for all you do for CNN and for the audiences across America and around the world who depend on us. Mark