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CNN is laying off around 6% of its workforce, the company announced Thursday morning, as it institutes sweeping new changes to the 45-year-old news network, including a new weekday show lineup and digital strategy.
CNN CEO Mark Thompson announced that CNN will soon unveil a new streaming service, a redesigned digital footprint and new subscriber services as well as the new show line up. CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery is investing $70 million into CNN’s digital plans, Thompson said.
The layoffs mean about 200 jobs will be lost, although Thompson said in a note to staff that there will be many new job openings, so that the company doesn’t expect overall headcount to fall much by the end of the year.
“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 in a memo to staff.
“Our objective is a simple one: to shift CNN’s gravity towards the platforms and products where the audience themselves are shifting and, by doing that, to secure CNN’s future as one of the world’s greatest news organizations. America and the world need high quality, fair-minded, trustworthy sources of news more than ever. This difficult and sometimes painful process of change is the only way to make sure we can still provide it.”
The cuts have long been expected, as the network revamps and reshapes its news operation with a focus on digital growth. Nearly all major news networks are dealing with drops in viewership and revenue as they face increasing headwinds from an audience dissipating to other platforms.
Last summer, CNN cut 100 people, about 3% of its workforce, as it reorganized its newsgathering operation.
CNN has since launched a paid subscription service at $3.99 per month, for which readers are asked to pay after they consume a certain number of free articles, and select stories are placed behind a paywall. On Thursday, Thompson announced there will be further subscriber products, including CNN’s first lifestyle-oriented digital product.
Read more via CNN/ NY Times