Daily Mail: Misery at CNN HQ as debt-plagued network prepares for sale

Story from Daily Mail:

A dark cloud hangs over CNN headquarters as staffers brace for layoffs and a likely sale of the network amid another reshuffling by its parents company.

'I'd say the mood remains really grim,' a CNN employee told Fox News, in the wake of last week's restructuring announcement from Warner Bros. Discovery.

'People are uncertain.'

The CNN staffer who spoke to FOX News revealed workers were already aware of Warner Bros. Discovery's plans to split into two separate companies before last week, with one centered around studios and streaming.

The other, tentatively titled Global Networks, will revolve around linear TV assets like CNN.

'We knew this was happening. And it was required to be able to sell the company,' the CNN staffer said of the split.

'People are hoping CNN will be sold,' the source continued, saying Global Networks' new chief executive, Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels, warned 'there is no limit, any sale can be made at any time - to a buyer who will invest in it. That's the bottom line.'

The CNN staffer added: 'I think they've telegraphed clearly that more cuts are coming.'

The insider noted that Wiedenfels' 'remit is not to grow stuff.

'This company is a cash-flow giant with shrinking revenue. Like that's the deal,' the source said. 'It's merely a matter of how fast it shrinks. That's why the assets were split.'

Wiedenfels has already managed to reduce Warner Bros. Discovery's $55billion debt by $21 billion in less than two years.

His appointment by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav comes after several rounds of layoffs at his behest.

Less than five months ago, CNN laid off 200 staffers - all from its struggling TV division. Warner Bros. Discovery has engaged in repeated rounds as well.

A CNN staffer told the Daily Mail at the time of the most recent CNN firings that the network had become 'bloated' after Warner Bros.' merger with Discovery in 2021.

The cost-cutting seen since has done little to help the conglomerate's share price, which is down some 7 percent year to date.

'And we don't have streaming yet so - it's hard to imagine it doesn't get worse,' the CNN source further told Fox, referring to an anticipated portion of CNN CEO Mark Thompson's long-in-the works restructuring plan.

'If we do not follow the audiences to the new platforms with real conviction and scale, our future prospects will not be good,' Thompson told the New York Times in January.

The new streaming service set to roll out this fall, he said, would feature the network's most well-known stars.

Much of the frustration from CNN staff has been aimed at Zaslav, a second CNN staffer told Fox News, after two years of sagging ratings, streamlining roles, and repeated promises to pivot to streaming.

'Zaslav killed this place. He killed it,' the source said.

'The last few years under Zas has been a disaster in terms of what he has done,' the person added.

Prior to announcing the restructuring last week, Zaslav reportedly dismissed a split of Warner Bros. Discovery's assets - including cable stations like TNT and TBS - as a bad idea.

Sources told Puck at the time that ideas to better monetize the network by Thompson were either out of date or are coming too late - forcing execs' hands.

A third CNN staffer who spoke to Fox also appeared to believe a collapse at CNN is imminent.

'I'm trying to figure out what I’ll do next when the whole thing collapses, but I don’t even know when that will be,' the source said.

The Daily Mail has reached out to CNN for comment.