CNN staff were left “scared and frustrated” after hearing the struggling network would suffer budget cuts and layoffs.
Stars including Jake Tapper and Wolf Blitzer have reportedly been denied increases to their multimillion-dollar salaries as the network’s biggest names fear for their futures.
On-screen favorite Chris Wallace also left the network earlier this week, although he insisted he did so on his own terms.
A former CNN employee said fox news that after news of the layoffs spread, staff across the company felt “very sad and deeply frustrated.”
“Feelings that are pervasive throughout the organization among those who have been here a long time and feel a deep personal connection to having helped build the organization,” the anonymous staffer added.
CNN staff were left “scared and frustrated” after hearing the struggling network would suffer budget cuts and layoffs.
Stars like Anderson Cooper, seen during CNN’s town hall with Kamala Harris in October, could see their multimillion-dollar salaries hit as staff fear the cuts could affect all levels of the network.
News of CNN’s budget cuts and layoffs first broke after an explosive report from Puck News, warning that network executives are willing to take drastic measures to save the company’s reputation.
Although there is no mention of who might be on the chopping block, there are fears that the cuts could affect everyone, from low-level staff to those like Cooper and his $20 million-a-year salary.
“In the coming months, I’m told, CNN will implement another round of layoffs affecting hundreds of employees across the organization,” journalist Dylan Byers wrote on Friday, referencing CNN’s recent 100-person layoff seen over the summer.
The new round of layoffs, experts said, will be more geared toward the production side of the company, but on-screen “talent” will also be affected.
Sources added to Fox News that the layoffs would be implemented “in March” and would include “very significant” names for the rest of the company’s staff.
‘It is a time of chaos and total and absolute review of the business model. “Extremely difficult even in the best of circumstances,” they added.
Although major figures such as presenter Kaitlan Collins (pictured) have not been named, insiders said the layoffs would include “very significant” names for the rest of the company’s staff.
A second CNN staffer told the outlet that they blame CEO Mark Thompson for the move, after he took the helm of the company just over a year ago and was immediately clear in his intention to change his approach.
“I’m worried because the industry is obviously in trouble… I’m sure there will be cuts,” the second insider said.
Amid rumors that the cuts will hit CNN’s most expensive programs, staff suspected they will “streamline and produce more shows out of Atlanta” to reduce costs.
Disgruntled workers fear they will be expected to take on the work of their laid-off former coworkers, and Puck News reported how on-air workers “will be asked to take on more responsibilities that were previously handled by teams of producers and production assistants.” “.
‘Redundant assignments will be eliminated and various divisions will be reduced or even eliminated.
“Some of the on-air talent is likely to be affected as well,” the explosive report warned.
Insiders said the move was prompted by CNN CEO Mark Thompson, who held the hot job at the company a little more than a year ago.
The Puck report also named Thompson as the driving force behind the move.
A former New York Times boss hired to reform the network under its parent Warner Bros. Discovery. Thompson’s start has struggled since last August, when ratings fell more than 20 percent.
Under Licht, a tenure that lasted just over a year, the station went from being the most-watched cable news network on election nights to one of the least-watched.
In 2016, when it was led by ousted leader Jeff Zucker, it was the most-watched network overall, a distinction now held by Fox News.
At the time, CNN was averaging 13.3 million viewers in prime time. Today, there are only about 800,000.
Meanwhile, right-wing Fox hosts like Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity and Greg Gutfeld are averaging 2.8 million viewers in the same time slots, the most in a field currently being disrupted by streaming and other forms of media.
Adding insult to injury were CNN’s problems on Election Day, a day that eight years ago would have given it a decisive victory in the ratings.
However, after a Trump presidency and a Biden Administration mandate, it lost to MSNBC in terms of ratings, something never seen before, as it only attracted 5.1 million views that night.
MSNBC, meanwhile, grossed $6 million, a figure nearly twice eclipsed by Fox News’s $10.3 million.
The numbers, released this week in the form of Nielsen statistics, appear to show a changing field when it comes to cable news, a field that appears to continue into Trump’s second term.
It comes after presenter Chris Wallace did not renew his $8.5 million a year contract amid budget cuts.
It was revealed on Monday that host Chris Wallace would not be renewing his $8.5 million-a-year contract, and the 77-year-old confirmed the fact in an interview with the Daily Beast as he mulled a full-time podcasting career.
“This is the first time in 55 years that I have been out of work,” he said that same day. “I’m really excited and liberated by that.”
As for other high-paid figures like Cooper and Burnett, their fate remains uncertain.
Days earlier, The Ankler had reported that Tapper and Blitzer were denied raises and that officials were considering a pay cut for Wallace.
The newsletter also revealed how Tapper resigned himself to a three-year contract, one that would pay him the same $7 million annually he had earned in previous years.