CNN chief Mark Thompson announces sweeping overhaul of news network, cuts 100 jobs

Mark Thompson, the CNN chief executive appointed last year to modernize the news network, unveiled a set of sweeping changes to the iconic outlet Wednesday, announcing plans to build a billion-dollar digital subscription business, experiment with artificial intelligence and overhaul key newsroom structures.

Mark Thompson, the CNN chief executive appointed last year to modernize the news network, unveiled a set of sweeping changes to the iconic outlet Wednesday, announcing plans to build a billion-dollar digital subscription business, experiment with artificial intelligence and overhaul key newsroom structures. The far-reaching measures, which Thompson described to staffers in a memo as a “key milestone in the transformation of CNN,” will result in about 100 employees, or about three percent of the workforce, being laid off. Those employees, Thompson said, will be eligible for severance packages. Since his appointment last year, Thompson has been candid about the challenges facing CNN, stressing to staffers that swift and dramatic steps are necessary to reorient the television-focused news organization for a digital future. Like other legacy media companies, CNN has for its four-decade history relied heavily on carriage fees from the traditional cable news bundle, a declining business that has been upended by the advent of streaming services such as Netflix. While the company is still profitable to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars each year, pivoting the network’s business away from the contracting cable industry, which provides the bulk of CNN’s revenue, to position it for the future will be an enormously difficult challenge. “Turning a great news organization towards the future is not a one-day affair. It happens in stages and over time,” Thompson said in his memo to staff. “Today’s announcements do not answer every question or seek to solve every challenge we face. However, they do represent a significant step forward and I hope you will read about them in that spirit.” Thompson’s announcement that he intends to build a digital subscription business generating more than a billion dollars in revenue represents a cornerstone of his strategy to “future-proof” CNN. A direct-to-consumer subscription product has long been seen by CNN’s leaders as the answer to shrinking revenues brought on by the decline of linear television.