CNN is planning to wield the axe on some of its high-paid staff after dismal election ratings that cap off a disastrous period for the cable news network.
According to an explosive new report from Puck, network executives will unleash sweeping lay-offs in a bid to save the network's flailing reputation.
It comes after the departure of stalwart Chris Wallace, and amid reports senior stars like Wolf Blitzer and Jake Tapper have both been denied raises.
There is no mention of who may be on the chopping block.
The highest paid stars include Anderson Cooper - who rakes in $20million a year - Erin Burnett ($6million) and rising star Kaitlan Collins ($3million).
The rumblings, first reported by Puck News, come as stars like Anderson Cooper continue to take home salaries of $20million despite waning ratings
'In the next few months, I’m told, CNN will implement another round of layoffs that will impact hundreds of employees across the organization,' reporter Dylan Byers wrote Friday, referencing CNN's recent 100-person layoff seen over the summer.
The fresh round of firings, the insiders said, will be more geared toward the production side of things.
As a result, reporters and correspondents will be required to cover their slack, they said - describing how on-air workers will be 'asked to assume more of the responsibilities once handled by teams of producers and production assistants.'
Byers wrote: 'Redundant assignments will be nixed, and various divisions will be reduced or even eliminated.
'Some of the on-air talent are also likely to be affected,' he went on to reveal.
Sources who spoke to the reporter, who worked at CNN for three years before founding Puck, added how the looming layoffs are part of an overarching plan - one that puts a premium on the station's digital platforms.
The man behind it, they said, is none other than new CEO Mark Thompson - the former New York Times boss brought in to overhaul the network under its Warner Bros. Discovery parent.
The old BBC boss filled the position left by then-languishing leader Chris Licht this past August, and since then, ratings have fallen more than 20 percent.
The architect of the layoffs is CEO Mark Thompson, who was hired late last summer to right a sinking ship following the failures of predecessor Chris Licht
The news also comes as veteran anchors Jake Tapper and Wolf Blitzer were reportedly recently denied raises - after already raking in salaries of $3million and $7million, respectively
Under Licht - a tenure that lasted a little over a year - the station fell from being the most-watched cable news network on election nights, to one of the least.
In 2016, when it was headed by since-ousted leader Jeff Zucker, it was the most watched network overall - a distinction that's now held by Fox News.
At the time, CNN had averaged 13.3million viewers in primetime. Today, it's only around 800,000.
Right-leaning Fox hosts like Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity, and Greg Gutfeld, meanwhile, are averaging 2.8 million viewers in the same timeslots - the most in a field that's currently being affected by streaming and other forms of media.
Adding insult to injury was CNN's struggles on election day - a day that eight years ago would've seen it score a decisive ratings victory.
However, following a Trump presidency and a term from the Biden Administration, it lost to MSNBC in terms of ratings - something never seen before as it only drew in 5.1million sets of eyes that night.
MSNBC, meanwhile, raked in 6million - a number eclipsed almost twofold by Fox News' 10.3million.
The numbers, aired this week in the form of Nielsen statistics, appear to show a shifting field when it comes to cable news - one seemingly set to continue with Trump's second term in office.
Veteran news anchor Chris Wallace announced Monday he will be leaving CNN after several years - and after making an $8.5million salary. Insiders previously said they were pondering a pay-cut for the 77-year-old
'Hundreds' will be laid off as a result, insiders said - speaking to a former CNN staffer. Pictured, CNN's headquarters at Hudson Yards in Manhattan
The network's struggles over the past eight years have seen it replaced by Fox News as the top dog in cable. Pictured, Fox News anchors Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier on election night, where it beat CNN by nearly 5million viewers
To combat this, CNN plans to create new positions that will service Thompson’s new digital-first vision, the unnamed insiders told Byers - with one source positing how the incoming changes may even yield a net gain of employees.
Still, if the insiders warning prove true, hundreds of others will lose their positions, the sources said - describing to Byers a climate at the outfit's Manhattan office rife with 'stress and high anxiety.'
The firings are set to come within the next few months, they said - not offering any more detail.
Who will be affected remains to be seen.
It was revealed Monday that longtime host Chris Wallace would not have his $8.5 million-a-year contract renewed, with the 77-year-old confirming the development in an interview with the Daily Beast as he pondered a full-time podcasting career.
'This is the first time in 55 years I‘ve been between jobs,' he said that same day. 'I am actually excited and liberated by that.'
As for other high-paid figures like Cooper and Burnett, their fates remain uncertain.
Days earlier, The Ankler had reported that Tapper and Blitzer were denied raises, and that officials were mulling a pay cut for Wallace.
The newsletter also revealed how Tapper was instead resigned to a three-year contract - one that would seem him paid the same $7million annually that he had earned in years past.
On Monday, Chris Wallace announced that he was leaving CNN after a three-year stint that paid him around $7 million per year. But Wallace won't be the only CNN employee departing the network in the coming weeks and months.
According to new reports from Puck News and the Daily Mail, CNN plans to lay off "hundreds of employees" and some "top stars" as its ratings continue to crater.
CNN's disappointing election night returns underscored the bleak future the network faces. In 2016, CNN was the most-watched television network on air during election night, averaging 13.3 million viewers in primetime. Yet on Tuesday, CNN averaged just 5.1 million in primetime, losing to MSNBC for the first time in its history.
The network has set several viewership lows over the past four years, in primetime and total day viewership. CNN lost more than 40% of its year-over-year viewership last week, following Trump's victory.
CNN's declines are particularly concerning given the salaries of some of its talents – specifically, Anderson Cooper, who reportedly makes $20 million a year.
Cooper, who does not draw a fraction of what Fox News' Jesse Watters and MSNBC' Chris Hayes' do at 8 pm, is not worth an eight-figure salary. Nor are Erin Burnett and Wolf Blitzer worth their respective salaries of reportedly $6 million and $7 million.
However, talents with long-term guaranteed contracts are not easy to dismiss. Often, it's the easier-to-fire producers and coordinators who bear the consequences of network declines, thus the plan to lay off "hundreds of employees."
In the meantime, new CNN CEO Mark Thompson plans to focus less on television ratings and more on digital and streaming.
"Since former BBC director general and New York Times Company C.E.O. Mark Thompson took over the network more than a year ago, he has embarked on an ostensibly future-facing strategy that prioritizes digital and streaming growth over linear… all while hoping to manage the decline of the cable asset to prevent this transformation from turning into Chernobyl. On one level, this strategy seems obvious, particularly given the rapid acceleration of cord-cutting, and the fact that the linear asset still pays the bills," Puck reports.
The issue is branding.
Whether it's linear television or streaming, the network does not give viewers an adequate reason to choose CNN over the bevy of other media options. At least viewers of MSNBC, which is also diminishing, know what they are getting with MSNBC: hyper-partisan left-wing propaganda.
What is CNN at this point? We aren't sure. And we aren't sure CNN knows either.
CNN is not quite as hard left and anti-Trump as it was under Jeff Zucker. But it's certainly not the straight-news operation it was supposed to be under Chris Licht.
Perhaps CNN can be best described as a news network that desperately wants to convince viewers of its credibility but is marred with hosts irreparably damaged by TDS and the Marxian mind virus.
It's not working. CNN lacks as much credibility as it does cachet.
Abby Phillip, Laura Coates, Kasie Hunt, and John Berman are C-level players cast as stars. Jim Acosta is a buffoon. And re-signing Brain Stelter to play praetorian guard for lying corporate media is nauseating.
CNN is broken. There is no easy fix.
Parent company Warner Bros. Discovery might be best suited to sell this thing before it becomes a severe financial drain.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA (VINnews) CNN is reportedly planning to lay off hundreds of employees in the coming months, according to a report by Puck News. The layoffs are expected to affect both staff behind the scenes and on-air talent as the network continues its efforts to cut costs.
Veteran journalist Chris Wallace has announced that he will not be returning to the network once his contract expires, adding to the uncertainty surrounding CNN’s future lineup. Other well-known anchors and hosts could also face the chopping block as the network looks to reduce its payroll.
High-profile personalities like Anderson Cooper, who reportedly earns $20 million annually, and Kaitlan Collins, who makes $3 million a year, may also be under scrutiny. However, it remains unclear which specific stars will be affected by the impending layoffs.
