CNN is set to lay off staffers this week as boss Mark Thompson presses ahead with a sweeping digital overhaul — with deeper cuts looming as a potential merger reshapes the network’s future.
The Warner Bros. Discovery-owned outlet is set to cut “a few dozen” staffers as it moves to modernize its 3,000-plus global workforce, according to the Status newsletter.
The cuts are expected to hit roles not tied to growth areas, marking CNN’s latest move away from its cable roots and toward a digital-first future, Status reported.
The move follows a prior round of cuts under Thompson, who eliminated about 6% of CNN’s workforce last year as part of an ongoing effort to shift the network away from its legacy cable model and toward digital growth.
This week’s cuts are likely to pale in comparison to layoffs expected if Paramount takes ownership of CNN as part of its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.
Paramount agreed last month to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in a deal valued at about $31 per share, or roughly $110 billion, fending off a rival bid from Netflix, which had previously struck an agreement to buy the company’s studios and streaming assets before walking away.
Paramount’s deal for Warner Bros. Discovery, which is still subject to government approval, comes months after the company merged with Skydance Media in August 2025 under CEO David Ellison.
Under Ellison, Paramount’s CBS News division has already undergone sweeping layoffs as part of a broader restructuring — cuts that could foreshadow similar moves at CNN if the deal is approved.
CBS News earlier this month cut about 6% of its workforce — roughly 60 to 70 employees — as part of a sweeping restructuring under new leadership.
The layoffs were outlined in a memo from editor in chief Bari Weiss and president Tom Cibrowski, who said parts of the newsroom must shrink to fund digital and audience-growth initiatives.
The network also shuttered its nearly century-old CBS News Radio division, eliminating all jobs in the unit and ending service to roughly 700 affiliate stations effective May 22.
Once Paramount takes control of CNN, David Ellison is expected to combine it with CBS News — a move likely to spark sweeping job cuts as duplicative roles are eliminated, according to Status.
CNN does not break out its financials, but proxy filings show the network is projected to generate roughly $1.8 billion in revenue this year, with its core business expected to decline.
“The day of reckoning is coming, and they’re going to have to cut costs,” Derek Reisfield, a former CBS executive, told The Post.
“You are going to see dramatic changes in the industry continue.”
Reisfield added that any combination of CNN and CBS News would likely involve consolidating overlapping operations, saying “you can combine a number of functions and save a lot of money.”
The Post has sought comment from CNN.
