CNN announces 200 layoffs from struggling TV division in post-election bloodbath

CNN has announced it is laying off 200 staff from its struggling TV division, as part of CEO Mark Thompson's long-in-the works restructuring plan to put emphasis on a digital future.

In a statement Thursday morning, Thompson warned that future is still unclear. He told The New York Times if CNN does 'not follow the audiences to the new platforms with real conviction and scale, [its] future prospects will not be good.'

The firings were announced in the morning and will affect the network's traditional TV operations. However, It remains unclear if any of big names were affected.

Thompson - once the chief executive of The Times - told the paper he is replacing Jim Acosta’s 10 am show with 'The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown,' confirming reports that emerged last week. 

At the time, the station slammed those reports as 'speculation.' The network is now in talks with Acosta - an anchor who regularly found himself at odds with a then-President Trump - about a new role, Thompson said.

He added how those being ditched will soon be replaced with workers with a more digital skillset, mentioning data scientists and product engineers specifically.

The old New York Times boss was brought in in 2023 to save the network under its Warner Bros. Discovery parent, and since then, ratings have fallen more than 20 percent.

Thompson also told his staff the future of the network is digital and giving people the news they want, when they want it - rather than expecting them to tune into shows scheduled for set times.

The network has warned reporters and anchors not to fill its airwaves with anti-Trump rants like many did during President Trump's previous term in office. 

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