CNN cuts jobs by 6% amid digital push

(Reuters) – Warner Bros Discovery-owned CNN will lay off about 6 percent of its workforce as the television news network continues to shift its focus to a more digital strategy, Reuters said in an internal memo on Thursday.

Legacy cable networks, a profitable business for decades, have been hit by massive cord-cutting by consumers opting for streaming services.

Warner Bros. Discovery is undergoing a significant restructuring and said in December it planned to split the cable TV network from its streaming and studio operations, creating two separate divisions.

In the new structure, the cable TV business – including CNN, TNT and Animal Planet – will be consolidated into a division called Global Linear Networks.

Along with the cuts, CNN is looking to streamline its cable TV lineup and improve its digital subscription offerings to better align with viewership trends.

“Our goal is simple: to shift the gravity of CNN to platforms and products where viewers themselves will switch,” CNN CEO Mark Thompson said in an internal memo.

Thompson said CNN has begun developing news programming similar to its TV production on a new streaming service.

CNN also plans to launch a new lifestyle product this year, the memo said, adding that CNN is looking to open and fill at least 100 new positions as part of its digital pillar in the coming months.

The digital efforts are backed by a $70 million investment from Warner Bros. Discovery, Thompson added.

In October, CNN introduced a digital paywall that forced some users to pay $3.99 a month to access its content. The move aims to create a new digital revenue stream as the network hopes to offset the decline of television.

(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Shonak Dasgupta)