CNN insiders fear anchor 'bloodbath' as bosses crack down on stars' megabucks pay

With CNN's ratings lagging acold down rivals Fox and MSNBC, respective web stars are being offered nary wage raises oregon wage cuts with the connection of 'take it oregon permission it.'

Former BBC News manager Mark Thompson was hired to revive the web successful 2023 and his strategy appears to see cutting costs after Chris Licht was fired.

It's portion of what's rumored to beryllium a wintertime of layoffs that galore astatine the web fearfulness volition beryllium a 'bloodbath.'

For starters, prima anchors Jake Tapper and Wolf Blitzer - making $7 cardinal and $3 million, respectively - signed caller deals astatine the aforesaid price, with an cause joking that 'flat is the caller up.'

Fox News exile Chris Wallace - signed for the network's flop streaming work and present shunted to his ain play amusement - has been offered a caller woody astatine a 'significant' wage chopped from the $8.5 cardinal a twelvemonth helium was making. 

'They person been highly pugnacious connected declaration negotiations. There is simply a batch of instrumentality it oregon permission it,' an cause said.

It has galore wondering what volition beryllium adjacent for $18 cardinal big Anderson Cooper, arsenic good arsenic Erin Burnett ($5 million) and Dana Bash, whose deals travel up successful the adjacent 2 years. 

Where the web whitethorn effort to truly slash is with the network's correspondents, who marque successful the mid-to-high six figures and seldom look connected aerial and erstwhile they do, they're not to Thompson's liking.

'Mark has made it known helium doesn't similar the accepted benignant of TV packages we are doing,' an unnamed writer told The Ankler. 

'He wants radical who are edgy. He doesn't privation radical who look similar your accepted anchorman, and it turns retired those [edgy] radical are cheaper.' 

Thompson whitethorn marque large cuts to the network's DC bureau, getting escaped of authorities sum for much amusement and travel. 

'If you are not getting an connection respective months out, you are successful a precarious place. That anxiousness has trickled down and retired and crossed the place,' a CNN staffer said.

It volition each beryllium an effort to prevention a web averaging conscionable 853,000 viewers successful September, down 21% from the period earlier and good beneath Fox News (2.5 million) and MSNBC (1.4 million). 

Thompson was hired to pb the network’s strategy, operations and concern units, and enactment arsenic editor-in-chief, yet liable for each CNN contented and overseeing its 4,000 employees worldwide. 

With Thompson, WBD brag David Zaslav is turning to an enforcement with acquisition astatine the highest levels of the quality business, dissimilar Licht - a erstwhile TV shaper who had worked connected The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

The seasoned media enforcement began his vocation astatine the British Broadcasting Corporation, which helium joined successful 1979 arsenic a accumulation trainee, yet becoming exertion of the Nine O'Clock News and Panorama and later, manager of television.

He near the BBC successful 2002 to go main enforcement of Channel 4, but returned erstwhile helium was appointed director-general successful May 2004, a presumption helium held until 2012.

At the BBC, Thompson presided implicit a sprawling acceptable of newsrooms for TV, vigor and digital, and led the improvement of the BBC iPlayer, the world's archetypal streaming work from a large broadcaster. 

His assignment astatine CNN followed a tumultuous 18 months of palace intrigue astatine the quality network, starting with the ouster of longtime brag Jeff Zucker past year. 

Zucker resigned from CNN successful February 2022 aft it emerged helium had been successful an undisclosed romance with his apical lieutenant, Allison Gollust, CNN's enforcement vice president and 1 of the network's highest-ranking leaders.

WBD, which completed the merger to go CNN's caller genitor institution successful April 2022, tapped Licht arsenic the caller web brag - but his tenure was marked by controversy.

Unlike Zucker, who enjoyed loyal enactment successful the CNN newsroom, Licht's tenure was marked by unit discontent that astatine times verged connected unfastened revolt.