CNN layoffs bloodbath begins with hundreds on the chopping block as network restructures for Trump era | Daily Mail Online

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CNN has started laying off the first of what is set to be hundreds of staffers as mainstream media begins to cut jobs with Donald Trump returning to the White House.

What's more, the struggling cable network has plans to do major surgery on its TV lineup, attempt to expand digital subscribers and move production to its Atlanta home base.

The layoffs were initially reported in November and follow about 100 cuts the network made over the summer.

At least one big name producer has reportedly learned they're out of a job on Wednesday, with many more set to be told on Thursday, Status reported.

Many shows are also rumored to be moving from New York and Washington to Atlanta, where production costs are cheaper, according to CNBC.

On the schedule, virulently anti-Trump anchor Jim Acosta may be headed to the dead zone of cable news, going from 10am to a two-hour show airing at midnights.

The network's former chief White House correspondent may leave the network altogether, according to the LA Times, if he doesn't except a timeslot that's been described as 'the Siberia of cable news.'

Insiders told Puck back in November that the firings were likely to lean closer to the production side of things.

CNN has already begun laying off the first of what is set to be hundreds of staffers as mainstream media begins to cut jobs with Donald Trump returning to the White House

New CNN CEO Mark Thompson said in a meeting last month that the layoffs were not to cut costs but to 'change CNN' and 'make it better'

New CNN CEO Mark Thompson - who personally asked Acosta to accept the midnight show - said in a meeting last month that the layoffs were not to cut costs but to 'change CNN' and 'make it better.' Puck reported he's told staffers 'dispassionate, open-minded coverage of the incoming president.'

Employees at the network have described the vibes as 'anxious' and 'nauseous' as closed-door meetings take place to determine the future of the network.

Their competitors are set to do the same, as NBC News is also planning to lay off 'a few dozen' workers Thursday as well.

Staffers at ABC News - following the network's highly publicized settlement with Trump - are also worried that cuts are about to come, though no specific date has been set.

However, a source at the network said that 'everyone is on edge' and despite all three being 'highly profitable,' their business models are said to be broken.

Status added that there are likely to be more cuts to follow in the years to come.

President Trump commented on the matter on Truth Social: 'MSDNC is even worse than CNN. They shouldn't even have a right to broadcast - Only in America!'

DailyMail.com has reached out to CNN, ABC News and NBC News for comment.

On the schedule, virulently anti-Trump anchor Jim Acosta may be headed to the dead zone of cable news, going from 10am to a two-hour show airing at midnights

President Trump commented on the matter on Truth Social

The network has just gone through an embarrassing lawsuit after they defamed an Afghan war veteran by falsely accusing him of running a 'black market' for Afghanistan evacuations and must pay him $5 million damages.

The network has been battling sagging ratings and vows from conservative lawmakers including Trump himself to crack down on what they claim is an unfair liberal bias.

CNN's exodus was first reported on in November, as stalwart Chris Wallace, and amid reports senior stars like Wolf Blitzer and Jake Tapper have both been denied raises.

The highest paid remaining stars include Anderson Cooper - who rakes in $20million a year - Erin Burnett ($6million) and rising star Kaitlan Collins ($3million).

As a result, reporters and correspondents will be required to cover their slack, they said - describing how on-air workers will be 'asked to assume more of the responsibilities once handled by teams of producers and production assistants.'

Puck News' Dylan Byers wrote: 'Redundant assignments will be nixed, and various divisions will be reduced or even eliminated.

'Some of the on-air talent are also likely to be affected,' he went on to reveal.

Sources who spoke to the reporter, who worked at CNN for three years before founding Puck, added how the looming layoffs are part of an overarching plan - one that puts a premium on the station's digital platforms.

While big names like Kaitlan Collins will be spared in the layoffs, the entire TV lineup is said to be facing a restructure

The rumblings, first reported by Puck News, come as stars like Anderson Cooper continue to take home salaries of $20million despite waning ratings

The man behind it, they said, is none other than new CEO Mark Thompson - the former New York Times boss brought in to overhaul the network under its Warner Bros. Discovery parent.

The old BBC boss filled the position left by then-languishing leader Chris Licht this past August, and since then, ratings have fallen more than 20 percent.

Under Licht - a tenure that lasted a little over a year - the station fell from being the most-watched cable news network on election nights, to one of the least.

In 2016, when it was headed by since-ousted leader Jeff Zucker, CNN brought in 1.25 million viewers in primetime, behind Fox News. Now, its under 700,000.

Right-leaning Fox hosts like Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity, and Greg Gutfeld, meanwhile, are still averaging 2.8 million viewers in the same timeslots today - the most in a field currently being affected by streaming and other forms of media.

Adding insult to injury was CNN's struggles on election day - a day that eight years ago would've seen it score a decisive ratings victory.

However, following a Trump presidency and a term from the Biden Administration, it lost to MSNBC in terms of ratings - something never seen before as it only drew in 5.1million sets of eyes that night.

MSNBC, meanwhile, raked in 6million - a number eclipsed almost twofold by Fox News' 10.3million.

The numbers, aired this week in the form of Nielsen statistics, appear to show a shifting field when it comes to cable news - one seemingly set to continue with Trump's second term in office.

To combat this, CNN plans to create new positions that will service Thompson's new digital-first vision, the unnamed insiders told Byers - with one source positing how the incoming changes may even yield a net gain of employees.

Still, if the insiders warning prove true, hundreds of others will lose their positions, the sources said - describing to Byers a climate at the outfit's Manhattan office rife with 'stress and high anxiety.'

As for high-paid figures like Cooper and Burnett, their fates remain uncertain.

Days earlier, The Ankler had reported that Tapper and Blitzer were denied raises, and that officials were mulling a pay cut for Wallace.

The newsletter also revealed how Tapper was instead resigned to a three-year contract - one that would seem him paid the same $7million annually that he had earned in years past.