Hollywood Reporter: Layoffs to Hit CNN as CEO Chris Licht Tells Staff That Restructuring “Will Accelerate” Soon

Story from Hollywood Reporter:

CNN will see layoffs and other cuts in the coming weeks, as the global news division responds to a worsening economic climate and as Warner Bros. Discovery continues its effort to bring together the WarnerMedia and Discovery businesses.

CNN CEO Chris Licht explained the rationale in a memo to staff Wednesday, adding that “our aim is to have most of these decisions made by the end of the year so we can start 2023 feeling settled and prepared for the future.”

Employees at CNN have been bracing for the changes since Licht began a review of the news division’s business lines and its programming.

On the programming front, CNN is set to debut a new morning show next month, and canceled the Sunday morning show Reliable Sources. Licht is expected to make further changes to CNN’s primetime and weekend lineups in the coming months.

Licht did not divulge where the cuts will come from, though he said leadership “will be strategic in this process and will minimize the impact on our core newsgathering operation and Digital, both of which have already executed smart changes.”

One of Licht’s first moves after joining CNN was to oversee the shutdown of the CNN+ streaming service, just a few weeks after it launched. He also combined newsgathering options across linear and digital to avoid duplication.

In his memo, Licht cited the worsening macroeconomic environment as one reason for the cuts.

“There is widespread concern over the global economic outlook, and we must factor that risk into our long-term planning,” Licht wrote. “All this together will mean noticeable change to this organization. That, by definition, is unsettling. These changes will not be easy because they will affect people, budgets, and projects.”

However, Warner Bros. Discovery has been making cuts across its organization in recent months, with the Warner Bros. TV Group impacted earlier in October. Some cuts were expected due to the merger of the two media companies, however, it is clear that the economic environment is forcing further budget cuts.

This week Warner Bros. Discovery disclosed to investors that it expects to incur restructuring charges of as much as $4.3 billion related to the merger, including as much as $1.1 billion tied to layoffs and other personnel changes.

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