CNN Announces Layoffs of Around 200 Jobs

CNN has announced the layoffs of around 200 jobs or 6% of its workforce. The network revealed on Jan. 23 that it is instituting significant changes to its lineup and mapping out an enhanced future digital strategy.

CEO Mark Thompson shared details of a revamp, which includes a new streaming service, a redesigned digital footprint, and new subscriber services. “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,” he said.

Thompson added, “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 job cuts come as CNN, owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, looks to shake up its lineup of shows and, at the same time, build out its digital subscription products. This restructuring will reportedly help the network lower production costs and consolidate teams. Some of CNN’s production operations will reportedly move from New York or Washington, D.C., to Atlanta, the network announced.

The new schedule is as follows, per the network’s press site:

• 5-6 a.m. ET: 5 Things with Rahel Solomon
• 6-7 a.m. ET: CNN This Morning with Audie Cornish
• 7-10 a.m. ET: CNN News Central
• 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. ET: The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown
• 12-1 p.m. ET: Inside Politics with Dana Bash
• 1-4 p.m. ET: CNN News Central
• 4-5 p.m. ET: CNN’s The Arena with Kasie Hunt
• 5-7 p.m. ET: The Lead with Jake Tapper
• 7-8 p.m. ET: Erin Burnett OutFront
• 8-9 p.m. ET: Anderson Cooper 360
• 9-10 p.m. ET: The Source with Kaitlan Collins
• 10-11 p.m. ET: NewsNight with Abby Phillip
• 11 p.m. -12 a.m. ET: Laura Coates Live

CNN Will Subsequently Add Hundreds of Jobs This Year After Initial Layoffs

CNN has announced that it will be shedding 6% of its staff as part of the network’s long-planned pivot from a linear to digital strategy. CNN chairman and CEO Mark Thompson announced the layoffs, which impacts roughly 200 people. https://t.co/oX0n1pSaGb

— ADWEEK (@Adweek) January 23, 2025

Thompson told staffers that on the heels of the layoffs, the company is subsequently recruiting for hundreds of new roles, with about 100 expected to be filled in the next few months. The company did not say in what departments these roles would be.

Thompson said, per Variety, “Recruiting the right people will take some time, but we hope to open up and fill at least 100 new posts in the coming months to help execute the new plans.” Thompson claims that the cable news network will launch its “first lifestyle-oriented digital product” and create “new premium digital ad experiences to drive sustainable and scalable advertising revenue.”

The network’s EVP of digital products and services, Alex MacCallum, revealed changes last year after the company’s website instituted a paywall in October 2024. The cost to CNN.com subscribers is $3.99 per month or $29.99 per year, per The Hollywood Reporter, after they utilize an allotted number of free articles.

“We are asking users in the United States to pay a small recurring fee for unlimited access to CNN.com’s world-class articles,” MacCallum explained at the time. “The vast majority of the 150 million users who visit CNN.com every month will continue to enjoy the same experience as they do today.”

MacCallum added that in addition to unlimited access to articles, subscribers “receive benefits like exclusive election features, original documentaries, a curated daily selection of our most distinctive journalism, and fewer digital ads.”