CNN cuts about 200 employees as it moves to digital future
CNN is cutting 6% of its workforce as the news organization tries to reinvent itself for media’s digital future, reports the Los Angeles Times.
This round of layoffs will impact about 200 employees and follows the layoff of 100 people as part of a newsroom reorganization last summer.
“Facing an exodus of viewers and a systemic decline in pay TV subscriptions, the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned news channel said Thursday it will cut 200 employees from the TV side of the business while investing in the digital operation,” states the LA Times post.
“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,” CNN Chairman Mark Thompson told employees in a memo.
Thompson said parent company Warner Bros. Discovery has committed $70 million to the effort to develop new subscription-driven digital products.
The plans for reinvention include the development of a direct-to-consumer CNN streaming product that won’t require a pay TV subscription. “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,” Thompson wrote.
CNN launched a subscription streaming service in 2022 called CNN+, which charged users $5.99 a month. After a $120-million investment and major promotional blitz, Warner Bros. Discovery pulled the plug on the new venture shortly after taking over the network.
More here.
