CNN on Thursday announced major layoffs and a new strategic plan, in a post-election maneuver meant to help transform the cable channel during a challenging time for the media business.
CNN CEO Mark Thompson announced the news to staff Thursday morning, adding that the company would cut about 6% of jobs, or about 200 people. He adds that the company is actively recruiting for hundreds of new job, with about 100 expected to be filled in the next few months, thanks to a $70 million investment from parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.
“The changes we’re announcing today are part of an ongoing response by this great news organization to profound and irreversible shifts in the way audiences in America and around the world consume news,” Thompson wrote.
Among the changes are a new streaming service, as CNN plans “to develop a new way for digital subscribers at home and abroad to stream news programming from us on any device they choose,” Thompson wrote. “It’s early days but we’ve already established that there’s immense demand for it not just in America but across much of the world.”
He noted that CNN will “continue to have a strong presence on Max, but we also believe it is not a complete answer to the future of the great linear CNN experience.”
Thompson joined CNN last year following the firing if Chris Licht. The former CEO of The New York Times has been tasked with turning around the venerable cable news channel, and in particularly determining a digital future for the business.
At the beginning of 2024 he outlined a new organizational structure and outlined his broad thoughts about where CNN needs to go. And over the summer CNN cut around 100 jobs in preparation for its digital switch. It launched a digital paywall in October in a major strategic shift.
More to come.
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