CNN lays off hundreds of employees and replaces Jim Acosta as it restructures network amid falling ratings
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The layoffs have been expected for month and it was previously reported that Jim Acosta had been asked to move to the midnight shift. CNN announced on Thursday that it is eliminating about six percent of its workforce — mainly across the network’s traditional television operations — as it aims to expand its digital and streaming services as cable viewers continue to cut the cord.
Roughly 200 employees will be laid off, though the network is looking to add roughly that same number of staffers to its digital side over the next year. Additionally, the network is reshaping its weekday lineup, which will see Jim Acosta losing his 10 a.m. ET show and is in talks to move to a new role. Acosta’s program will be replaced by The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown, with Blitzer moving from his early-evening slot. Audie Cornish will also be getting her own morning show.
“Our objective is a simple one: to shift CNN’s gravity towards the platforms and products where the audience themselves are shifting and, by doing that, to secure CNN’s future as one of the world’s greatest news organizations,” CNN chief Mark Thompson said in an internal memo.
