Updated January 23, 2025, at 4:08 p.m
CNN announced Thursday a restructuring that includes about 200 layoffs, an accelerated direction in digital operations and new television roles for personalities such as Wolf Blitzer, Jake Tapper and Audie Cornish.
It’s the boldest overhaul yet in the 18-month tenure of CEO Mark Thompson, a former executive at The New York Times and the BBC who was tapped by parent company Warner Bros. Discovery to revive newspaper fortunes.
The layoffs are focused on CNN’s television business, where ratings have fallen as consumers ditch cable and look for other news sources. Those will eventually be offset by new hires in 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’re actually leaning towards increased investment.”
Layoffs have either occurred or are expected 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 Florida jury last week found the network liable for defaming a U.S. Marine veteran in a story involving a paid effort to extract endangered Afghans after the invasion of the Taliban of their country. The network settled the case before the jury could fully decide on damages.
CNN announced Thursday that it was developing a product that would allow consumers to watch a TV-like video stream on any device, though no simulcast TV will be broadcast. There was no estimated launch date.
Under Thompson, CNN has quietly redesigned and introduced new features to its CNN.com website. Late last year, it launched a $3.99 monthly and $29.99 annual 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 she did at the Times, where her digital products modernized the paper’s business. Executives hope CNN’s video component and international presence will provide growth opportunities that the Times won’t copy.
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 number of schedule changes: veteran anchor Blitzer’s “Situation Room” will move from 10 p.m. Eastern, 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, “The Arena,” at 4 p.m.; and Rahel Solomon will do a show, “5 Things,” at 5 p.m
Left out for now is current breakfast host Jim Acosta, a frequent meeting partner of Trump during the president’s first term. He is negotiating a new role, CNN said, after he reportedly turned down a late-night stint.
Aside from cutting the cord, 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 express joy at the thought of layoffs there.
“Not only is Trump stronger than he’s ever been in his political career, he may have killed the legacy media as we know it,” radio host and OutKick founder Clay Travis wrote on X-in.
Thompson said he wanted CNN to distinguish itself with hard-hitting 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 with very different views to debate issues.
“I think we should quietly and patiently continue our work as journalists,” he said.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to include additional reporting from the Associated Press.