CNN Faces Major Layoffs as Mark Thompson Plans Cost-Cutting Shake-Up Amid Ratings Slump

[Social Media]

 

Following a sharp ratings dip during last week’s Election Night coverage, CNN is bracing for sweeping layoffs under new CEO Mark Thompson, who is reportedly targeting high-salaried on-air talent and redundant positions across the organization. According to Puck News, Thompson’s planned layoffs are expected to impact hundreds of CNN employees as he restructures the network’s workforce, focusing on a shift toward a “digital-first” model.

 

CNN has struggled to keep pace with competitors in the cable news arena. While Fox News captured an impressive 10.3 million viewers in prime time on Election Night and MSNBC, anchored by Rachel Maddow, pulled in 6 million viewers, CNN lagged with 5.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen. This marked a significant loss for CNN, which historically dominated election coverage in years past.

 

As part of the reorganization, Thompson may cut back on the network’s highly compensated anchors, such as Anderson Cooper, Erin Burnett, and Kaitlan Collins. Cooper, who hosted the recent Election Night broadcast, is reported to have a contract valued as high as $20 million annually. Burnett’s salary is estimated at $6 million, while Collins earns a reported $3 million. Thompson’s push for budget restructuring could see significant reductions in these salaries as he works to align the network’s finances with a shifting viewership and digital landscape.

 

Further signs of the coming change were evident earlier this week when anchor Chris Wallace announced his departure from CNN, ending a three-year run marked by low ratings and corporate turnover. Wallace, reportedly earning $8.5 million annually, is one of several high-profile figures Thompson has considered asking to accept pay cuts. Additional stars, including Jake Tapper and Wolf Blitzer, may also face compensation adjustments.

 

Thompson, previously the CEO of The New York Times and the BBC, is focusing on adapting CNN’s content production for a more digitally-focused audience. According to sources, the layoffs will target television production teams whose roles are deemed less critical under the new digital-first approach. Reporters and correspondents are expected to take on some of the responsibilities currently handled by producers and production assistants, streamlining workflows and reducing the network’s reliance on traditional television support staff. Additionally, CNN will eliminate redundant roles and, in some cases, reduce or fully dissolve certain divisions.

 

The upcoming changes follow an earlier round of cuts in which CNN laid off approximately 100 employees, or about 3% of its workforce. For many at CNN, these layoffs only add to the anxiety within a work environment described by Puck as “high stress and high anxiety.”

 

The reshuffling at CNN underscores a larger industry trend as media companies face the pressures of declining viewership, changing consumer habits, and the need for cost-effective digital strategies. In a competitive field where audiences have increasingly diverse options for news and information, Thompson’s restructuring efforts aim to give CNN a fighting chance to recover and remain relevant in the evolving landscape of news media.

 

Based on a report by NYP 2024-11-14

 

 

 

[mdr224]

Tear down american media, start building from the bottom. Its been lying to people for too long

[Cryingdick]

Maybe they could get Musk in to find some savings for them. Anderson, Erin and Kaitlyn... they could learn to code, maybe find some decent work making solar panels in a high paying green job, or even pool their resources and open a weed shop in the new opportunity economy.

[Iron Tongue]

CNN built its own bed to lie in.

I love news.  As a business traveller, I used to keep CNN on every minute I was awake in my hotel room anywhere in the world.

But since they made the decision to enter politics instead of a being a news channel, I refuse to watch them.

Same too with MSNBC where for 4+ years, Rachel Madow starter her show with another "Smoking Gun" story.  And none of them proved true.

 

[sikishrory]

Information and truth is so easy to find these days with the internet. So when your whole business is based on not news but smearing, dividing and twisting the truth it really stands out. Unlike perhaps even 10-15 years ago people are much more aware of this. 

Go look at nearly any mainstream news video on youtube that allows comments and it is very clear in the comments that the majority of people have had enough of the lies.

Doing family research and reading newspapers from the 50s, 60s, 70s I did notice a stark difference in that it is actual news reports wuthout and right left bs.

All these cnns, bbcs, abcs etc will be about as popular as a cassette tape in a decade or two.

[dinsdale]

MSNBC is in the same boat. What this election really showed was a complete bias from the legacy media. It's fine for bias to be shown in the editorials/opinions but there has traditionally been a firewall between this and the news desk which should be neutral and objective i.e. report the news. The Liz Cheney "firing squad" story is just one perfect example of this. A 20 second grab that took what Trump said completely out of context was taken and ran with. This of course was believed by the gullible as evidenced by some on this forum. Of course for many of us the legacy media has clearly shown itself for what it is over the past four years. Unfortunately it's these media outlets that are deemed to be reliable media sources in this era of what is and isn't misinformation.

[RichardColeman]

Problem is that these station would rather sack the little guys to save money than the left wing spouting nutter over-paid 'stars' that is making the stations unwatchable

[dinsdale]

Could it be that a % of viewers of the BS saw through the BS and moved over to Trump? The legacy media is a disgrace and to call these organisations the purveyors of information and any challenge to the narrative is deemed misinformation and censored accordingly is erroneous in it's very nature. 

[Sorted2024]

[jippytum]

CNN have been exposed as the biased liars and cheats they are. 

The election coverage

was the worst ever.

Even stooping to doctor a vidio inteview with Harris to try and make her credible. 

[James105]

Awww thats a shame.  Who is going to be brave enough to report from the 3rd world war zones now?

 

[jippytum]

I hope Anderson Cooper is among the  anti Trump campaigners  to be replaced at CNN. 

[JonnyF]

Nobody is watching their left wing propaganda any more. It's been exposed as lies. 

 

Just as nobody believes the polls that lefties were drooling over in the build up to the election.

 

X is the best source of news these days. Thanks Elon. Hurry up with that search engine so I can get unbiased results, Google is as biased as CNN. 

 

 

[pegman]

It's a wonder they get the audience they get since it only projects solely the views of the small ethnic group, who make up 2.4% of the American population, that are the top shareholders and managers of Warner Discovery. News channel is a misnomer as it is more of a political views channel. Same goes for Fox News and MSNBC. 

[dinsdale]

Haven't seen any of supporters of the radical progressive woke left yet on this thread yet. Come on wake up and support the legacy media that you all believe as reporting the truth.

[brewsterbudgen]

Much like after the 2016 election, CNN's viewing figures are bound to rise now that they have a right-wing government and a crazy president to cover.  It will be fun! 

[soalbundy]

My own opinion is that there is no media outlet, including newspapers, that don't have a political bias, even the once noble BBC is now tainted, factual news and neutral political commentary is probably impossible today, there is too much money involved and the public, especially the Americans, have been dumbed down, I once heard an American tourist in Cologne cathedral explaining to his wife that the magnificent stone arches were obviously plastic moldings.

[Smokey and the Bandit]

1 hour ago, jippytum said:

CNN have been exposed as the biased liars and cheats they are. 

The election coverage

was the worst ever.

Even stooping to doctor a vidio inteview with Harris to try and make her credible. 

Yes absolutely, they deserve everything they get!

[dinsdale]

52 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Much like after the 2016 election, CNN's viewing figures are bound to rise now that they have a right-wing government and a crazy president to cover.  It will be fun! 

So the left wing biased CNN's viewing figures which have tanked will rise because Trumps in and they will continue with the radical left agenda. As for 2016 this is when CNN went full left bias which has led to where they are now. In trouble. Well I guess there's some logic in there somewhere.

[Taxi]

Rogan Trump interview has almost 50 million views on YouTube and 23 million on X. 

 

CNN 5 million on election night. The left wing MSM have pushed their viewer base off their platforms thanks to their political Zealotry, outright distortions and lies. 

 

Most people can find a new home on the many social media platforms / podcasts for news and current affairs, left wing MSM have killed their businesses.

[brewsterbudgen]

You have Fox News, NewsMax and One America on the right, and CNN and MNSBC on the left.  Cable seems balanced to me and in any case they just cater for their political audience.

 

Not so sure about ABC, NBC and CBS though - and that's what most people watch.

 

 

[thesetat2013]

These Dem controlled networks better do something fast. They all have been exposed giving favor to the controlling party. They all will be lucky if they do not get their licenses pulled or face bankruptcy from lack of viewers. 

The fact that they chose to go against the Republican parties nominee and have consistently run stories to defame and destroy the credibility or Trump as well as their promoting such good reviews on the Dem Harris even though she was a putz. I am happy the people are opening their eyes and refusing to watch such biased reporting. 

Next the world needs to attack the poll takers who consistently showed Harris as equal to Trump or better than him. I think they should be investigated as well. Pretty hard to believe that at the last minute millions of voters changed their mind to vote for Trump instead of Harris. Yet all the polls showed them so equally divided. Something amiss with that as well. 

[NickyLouie]

You reap what you sow 

[dinsdale]

9 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

You have Fox News, NewsMax and One America on the right, and CNN and MNSBC on the left.  Cable seems balanced to me and in any case they just cater for their political audience.

 

Not so sure about ABC, NBC and CBS though - and that's what most people watch.

 

 

Well ABC, NBC and CBS are all legacy media. Surprised you don't know this. Even tax payer funded networks globally are on the progressive woke left agenda. Why? Where's the balance. Try and post some balance on here and it's deleted as misinformation or not from a "reputable" source. Well the reputable sources have shown their face and it's definitely not reputable.

[herfiehandbag]

56 minutes ago, thesetat2013 said:

These Dem controlled networks better do something fast. They all have been exposed giving favor to the controlling party. They all will be lucky if they do not get their licenses pulled or face bankruptcy from lack of viewers. 

The fact that they chose to go against the Republican parties nominee and have consistently run stories to defame and destroy the credibility or Trump as well as their promoting such good reviews on the Dem Harris even though she was a putz. I am happy the people are opening their eyes and refusing to watch such biased reporting. 

Next the world needs to attack the poll takers who consistently showed Harris as equal to Trump or better than him. I think they should be investigated as well. Pretty hard to believe that at the last minute millions of voters changed their mind to vote for Trump instead of Harris. Yet all the polls showed them so equally divided. Something amiss with that as well. 

Bankruptcy as a result of a stations editorial policy is one thing, and can be discussed and predicted until the cows come home.

 

The pulling of licences from privately owned broadcasting undertakings, for political reasons, is a very different matter.

[dinsdale]

34 minutes ago, thesetat2013 said:

These Dem controlled networks better do something fast. They all have been exposed giving favor to the controlling party. They all will be lucky if they do not get their licenses pulled or face bankruptcy from lack of viewers. 

The fact that they chose to go against the Republican parties nominee and have consistently run stories to defame and destroy the credibility or Trump as well as their promoting such good reviews on the Dem Harris even though she was a putz. I am happy the people are opening their eyes and refusing to watch such biased reporting. 

Next the world needs to attack the poll takers who consistently showed Harris as equal to Trump or better than him. I think they should be investigated as well. Pretty hard to believe that at the last minute millions of voters changed their mind to vote for Trump instead of Harris. Yet all the polls showed them so equally divided. Something amiss with that as well. 

TOO BIG TO RIG. I do wonder, however, if 2020 was reversed in 2024 and it was Trump that only just got over the line. All you see and hear is how gracious Biden is being and how ungracious Trump was in 2020. The only reason the Dems are being so "gracious" about the transfer of power is they have no choice. They were absolutely decimated and it can't be disputed.  

 

[nauseus]

I think the NYT ratings quoted are lower than given.

 

CNN have been losing ground for ages.

 

Som nam na.

[brewsterbudgen]

11 hours ago, dinsdale said:

Well ABC, NBC and CBS are all legacy media. Surprised you don't know this. Even tax payer funded networks globally are on the progressive woke left agenda. Why? Where's the balance. Try and post some balance on here and it's deleted as misinformation or not from a "reputable" source. Well the reputable sources have shown their face and it's definitely not reputable.

That was the point I was making.  'Legacy' media should be balanced; cable already.  The thread is about CNN.

[dinsdale]

8 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

That was the point I was making.  'Legacy' media should be balanced; cable already.  The thread is about CNN.

Yes the thread is about CNN but CNN is representative of the access or legacy media as a whole e.g. ABC's The View and said legacy media is still spewing out the same old tired rhetoric that the American voting public has dismissed overwhelmingly.

[jerrymahoney]

I am a paid subscriber to the very profitable NY Times along with 10+ million other paid subscribers but I will spare you all the details as it is now impossible to provide any link to a NY Times article on here without someone replying:

"Oh yeah? But what about Hunter's laptop, HUH?"