Staffers at CNN are in a panic over Paramount’s impending takeover of the cable news channel’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery — and the massive bloodbath that is expected to come after CEO David Ellison completes the $81 billion deal in the coming weeks.
Paramount settled an antitrust suit with California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Monday — clearing the way for a merged media giant that will operate both CBS News and CNN, in addition to Hollywood studios Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., streaming services HBO Max and Paramount+.
“People are very nervous,” one CNN staffer told The Post. “It’s dark. It’s like when you do hurricane coverage. You see the storm spinning off the coast of Haiti and moving towards Florida and you’re just waiting and you’re like, ‘Oh, s–t’.”
“Bloodbath coming, including at CNN,” a TV exec said. “That’s the next big step — slashing and burning.”
Paramount has said it sees at least $6 billion in cost savings, which would translate to several thousand jobs lost in the months ahead.
Inside CNN, staffers have been more or less kept in the dark by top brass, who are themselves unsure who will be running the network once Ellison takes over.
“There’s been a complete absence of information about what’s going on and who is going to be in charge,” a CNN staffer told The Post.
CNN boss Mark Thompson is set to lead a staff town hall about the merger on Wednesday. But there’s little hope of gleaning much insight on the new leadership structure until Ellison officially closes the deal.
Employees are looking at how CBS News has changed under Ellison’s stewardship, pointing to the overhaul of the network under news boss Bari Weiss.
“What’s been playing out at CBS News is fueling a deeper sense of dread and anxiety … not only how they’ve treated people and the editorial changes they’ve made, but that it’s also been a disaster. The ratings are at their lowest point,” said a CNN insider.
“You can’t look at the ratings and say, it is working, Now they’re going to try this at scale? What the f–k?” the person added.
Several sources expressed fear over how Weiss “blew up” CBS News’ top rated show, “60 Minutes,” by firing Scott Pelley and other correspondents, along with slew of senior producers.
As many insiders viewed Weiss’ overhaul as extreme, the show, which is two episodes into its new season, has not improved viewership numbers.
A CBS source said Weiss “broke something that didn’t need fixing.”
Critics also pointed to last-placed “CBS Mornings” and “CBS Evening News,” which have posted new lows under Weiss’ leadership, and an editorial vision that they claim, is more deferential to the Trump administration.
Weiss defenders, however, say she is making the left-leaning CBS News more balanced.
As part of Paramount’s deal with Bonta and 11 other AGs, Ellison promised to set up an independent editorial board for CBS News and CNN, among a slew of other assurances meant to assuage antitrust fears.
Sources at CNN dismissed editorial board idea as ineffective and hard to implement.
“It’s been proven in this country when you do these sorts of things, it’s not enforeceable,” one staffer said.
Inside CNN, staffers are pulling for Thompson to continue running the network without any oversight from Weiss.
“He very much wants to be the editorial leader,” an insider said. “He has no interest in someone else coming in and telling him what to do.”
Other gripes inside the network include the question of foreign investment, pointing to the fact that the merged Paramount-WBD will be owned by a total foreign equity ownership stake of 49.5%.
Last week, the Federal Communications Commission approved Paramount’s petition to allow the ownership stake, noting that the foreign funds — from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi — will not own voting stock.
CNN sources are upset over the notion that the foreign entities could have an impact on its international coverage.
Meanwhile, staffers at CBS News are also wringing their hands about how the merger could impact their jobs, as well as the editorial direction of CNN.
“I’m feeling defeated and dejected,” one CBS staffer said. “The vandalism David and Bari have done to CBS News has been catastrophic.
“Ellison is still going to get his hands on CNN and if they do just one quarter of the damage they’ve done to CBS, CNN is over. It’s sad for news. It’s sad for America. It’s just sad.”
CBS, CNN and Paramount declined to comment.