CNN To Fire Hundreds of Staff Amid Ratings Crisis

CNN anchors.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty

CNN will lay off hundreds of employees on Thursday, capping a year of financial struggles and falling ratings as the network seeks to pivot toward a digital future, sources said Wednesday.

The exact number of Thursday’s layoffs, which were first reported by CNBC, is unclear. They will not impact CNN’s marquee talent, which includes Jake Tapper, Kaitlan Collins, and Anderson Cooper, according to CNBC. CNN declined to comment.

The cuts come as CEO Mark Thompson has set his sights on digital as CNN’s next frontier, arguing its ratings struggles matter less in an era of online news consumption. CNN’s website launched a $3.99 paywall in October, months after laying off 100 employees. It also reportedly received a $70 million investment from parent company Warner Bros. Discovery earlier this month toward its digital plans.

Still, its digital pivot has coincided with a precipitous ratings decline throughout 2024 and especially so after the November election. The network had its worst performance in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 age demographic last year. A trial this month that found CNN liable for defamation over a 2021 report also revealed the network’s revenue declined from $2.2 billion in 2021 to $1.8 billion in 2023. It has since reportedly let some of its top talent’s salaries stay stagnant.

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The network has planned to reshuffle its programming as it seeks to retain its audience and cut costs. CNN has considered shifting Wolf Blitzer, now its longest-standing anchor, from the afternoon to the morning and move Jim Acosta—who is hated by President Donald Trump—to a graveyard midnight shift. Some of the talent are also being given more to do. It also has moved Collins, the host of primetime show The Source with a strong line to the Trump administration, back to Washington, D.C., as its chief White House correspondent.

Thompson, who joined the network in late 2023 after a career that included stints running The New York Times Company and the BBC, has tried to dismiss the ratings collapse, one that has also affected MSNBC, though less starkly. Its 2024 year-end press release hailed the network as “the top digital news outlet in the world“—but acknowledged the headwinds plaguing it and the cable news business.

“As media habits change and the industry evolves, CNN is delivering essential news and information with distribution across linear... digital and streaming platforms,” it wrote.

The layoffs also follow a year where the network played host to some of its top political moments. It was on CNN where Joe Biden floundered in his only debate against Trump last year, dooming his re-election bid and bringing questions of his mental acuity to light. CNN also landed the first interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris after she took Biden’s place.

But those wins have not always brought ratings success. November’s election night saw MSNBC beat CNN in its coverage for the first time, a stark defeat for a channel that has traditionally shone through its political coverage.