David Ellison’s Skydance is losing longtime employees it wanted to keep at CNN and CBS News as its cost-cutting buyouts prompt unexpected departures, according to a report.
At CNN, some top managers in the New York bureau have accepted buyouts, while experienced employees in Atlanta and veteran camera operators are also preparing to leave, the Status newsletter reported Tuesday.
The departures have alarmed some CNN managers, although other executives are relieved that longtime employees have an opportunity to leave on their own terms, the publication reported.
One insider described the CNN departures as a “brain and production drain,” according to Status.
The buyout program was announced Oct. 26, less than three weeks after Skydance, which was previously known as Paramount Skydance, closed its Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition.
The newly merged company is targeting at least $6 billion in annual cost savings from the mega-merger within three years.
Managers cannot privately steer employees away from accepting buyouts, according to Status.
CNN has not offered buyouts since 2019, leaving many longtime employees waiting for an opportunity to depart with a severance package, according to Status.
“The results were in line with CNN’s expectations for the buyout program, the first offered to staff since 2019. Many managers were relieved that employees had the opportunity to leave on their own terms,” a source close to the situation told The Post.
The number of top managers accepting buyouts on CNN’s team responsible for breaking news coverage out of New York City was low, according to the source.
At CNN, most eligible workers can receive three weeks of pay for each year of service, up to a maximum of two years’ salary, Status reported.
CNN employees must have been on the job at least 15 years and hold a title no higher than vice president to meet the program’s tenure and rank requirements, according to the report. Under the standard formula, 15 years of service would yield about 10 months’ pay.
“The reality is, the package they get if they’re fired or let go as part of a restructuring — it will likely not be as good as this offer,” a TV news veteran told Status.
At CBS News, which is led by Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss, employees are also weighing their futures amid concerns about further departures, according to Status.
Some “60 Minutes” producers have left voluntarily over the past year while correspondents and managers have been fired — raising concerns about further exits.
A larger pool of employees received buyout offers at CBS News than at CNN, according to Status.
The terms for most were two weeks’ pay per year of service, while some longer-tenured staffers were offered more generous packages.
The offers first went out Oct. 26, with many employees given until Sunday to make their decisions. Many CBS News workers reportedly have until next Wednesday to accept their packages.
Those who take the deals are scheduled to leave Dec. 4, just weeks before Christmas.
The loss of veteran employees could carry consequences that extend well beyond immediate payroll savings, according to Amore Philip, founder of New York-based Apples & Oranges Public Relations.
“Payroll savings show up in one quarter. The cost of lost expertise shows up over the following year, in what goes on air and in audience trust,” said Philip, who has spent 16 years working with newsrooms and television producers as a publicist.
“A newsroom can replace a title. It can’t quickly replace the person who knows who to call and gets the call returned,” she told The Post.
The Post reported last month that Skydance was rolling out voluntary buyouts alongside a five-day return-to-office mandate as Ellison moved to streamline the sprawling media conglomerate.
In an Oct. 26 memo obtained by The Post, Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz said the company was offering exit packages to eligible workers who might not see a future at the newly merged company.
“As we bring our teams together, we recognize that not everyone will see their future here, and we respect that,” the executives wrote.
“To give eligible employees the option to move on in a way that works for them, we are introducing a Voluntary Buyout (VBO) Program.”
The latest belt-tightening follows Skydance’s $80 billion-plus debt buildup after its Oct. 6 acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, which brought CNN and HBO under the same corporate roof as CBS, Paramount and other entertainment properties.
The combined company would have had approximately $82.5 billion in debt and $7.9 billion in cash as of June 30, according to financial estimates that account for the merger.
Ellison has pledged to wring at least $6 billion in annual cost savings from the merger within three years.
The Post has sought comment from Skydance, CBS News and CNN.