CNN finds itself at a digital crossroads after years of turmoil

When Ted Turner founded CNN in 1980, he stressed how the C stood for cable, making it the first channel to be named after the then nascent TV delivery system.

But more than four decades later, the pay TV business that provides CNN with well over half of its revenue is sinking fast. CNN Chairman Mark Thompson’s mission is to adapt to a cord-free future.

Thompson’s plan comes after years of ownership changes, top management shakeups, staff cutbacks, declining TV ratings and a loss of the swagger the network had when it sparred with the first Trump administration. CNN even had to deal with public criticism from David Zaslav, chief executive of its parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, who pushed for booking more Republicans.

Last month, Thompson pressed the reset button by announcing a staff cut of 200 employees on the TV side and a $70-million investment into new products aimed at digital media users. Thompson, a former BBC and New York Times executive, called the moves a response “to profound and irreversible shifts in the way audiences in America consume news.”

CNN executives have long recognized the need to commit to a post-cable world. The company launched a direct-to-subscription service in 2022 with CNN+, which management at the time said represented the future of the company. Ownership changes derailed that plan and now Thompson is charged with reviving it. He said CNN will launch a new lifestyle-oriented product later this year and develop a linear news stream for digital users.

Thompson set a goal of generating $1 billion in digital revenue by 2030 as cord-cutting erodes the steady stream of funding that pay TV subscriptions provide. CNN has hit ratings lows in recent years, drawing fewer viewers than Fox News and MSNBC, and has seen its revenue decline by half between 2021 and 2023 after having its most profitable year ever in 2020.

CNN’s digital transformation is taking place after several body blows to its public image.

Last week, Jim Acosta, a popular CNN journalist known for his combative stance when covering President Trump, left the network instead of taking a new shift at midnight.

On Jan. 17, the network had to pay millions of dollars to settle a defamation lawsuit from a security consultant who was named in a 2021 story about black market war profiteers operating in Afghanistan after the U.S. military withdrawal.

CNN also remains in the crosshairs of President Trump and the political right, who have made the network the poster child for their attacks on the mainstream press. Trump’s oft-repeated phrase “fake news” was invoked in the arguments against CNN during the recent defamation suit trial.

“Right now, you think of their brand as in decline,” said Jeff McCall, a professor of communications at DePauw University. “The layoffs; that’s a problem. And it looks really bad when you lose libel suits.”

Many of the economic challenges facing CNN are happening throughout the traditional TV business. Streaming services now account for half of all U.S. TV viewing and cable subscriptions have been in a steady decline.

The trend is now taking its toll on traditional TV news, with big name news personalities taking pay cuts or heading for the exit.

“One thing we do know about the future, it’s not going to be the same money,” said one CNN veteran not authorized to comment publicly.

While morale is low inside of CNN due to the latest round of layoffs, some insiders said they are hopeful about Thompson’s transformation plan based on his track record at the New York Times, widely considered the most successful digital subscriber-based news business.

“If anybody deserves the benefit of the doubt, it’s Mark Thompson and his team,” said Jon Klein, a former CNN president who has been at the helm of several tech start-ups. “He dragged the BBC into the internet era and the New York Times into the digital subscription era really well.”

CNN’s strength has always been breaking news and the network’s ability to quickly get live pictures from anywhere in the world and provide analysis. But it remains to be seen if CNN can get consumers to subscribe for products outside of live news coverage.

The New York Times already had an audience with the habit of buying a paper for content that goes beyond the news, such as puzzles and recipes, which the company developed into standalone money-making digital offerings.

The short-lived CNN+ was designed to offer a broad range of programming on topics such as food and wellness while building on its longtime strengths in politics and international affairs. The company made a $100-million investment, which included the hiring of well-known names including Chris Wallace, Audie Cornish and Kasie Hunt. (CNN also pursued MSNBC stars Rachel Maddow and Ari Melber.)

After a heavy promotional campaign, Warner Bros. Discovery pulled the plug on the service just nine days after taking over CNN. The new company was looking for quick ways to reduce its $54-billion debt load, and CNN+ — spearheaded by its ousted president Jeff Zucker — was an easy target.

After scuttling CNN+, Warner Bros. Discovery put a CNN feed, much of it from its international channel, on the company’s entertainment streaming service Max. The stream generated complaints from cable and satellite carriers who pay fees to offer CNN to their customers, reflecting the delicate balance of developing a product for the future while most of the revenue is tied to a declining business.

According to people familiar with the plans, CNN+ would have offered a streaming version of the network’s linear channel as soon as 2026 — an opportunity to turn cord-cutters and cord-nevers into digital subscribers. There is no date set on when such a service will be available on Thompson’s watch.

Thompson’s memo acknowledged that streaming CNN on Max is not the long-term answer. But the performance of CNN coverage on the service has provided insight into what might work best on a standalone platform.

Former CNN executives note that the plan Thompson laid out in his Jan. 23 memo is not that far afield from the quickly jettisoned CNN+. Thompson even rehired Alex MacCallum, the well-respected interim chief digital officer when CNN+ was launched. She left along with many others hired for the service in 2022 after it was shuttered.

CNN already has a large digital audience on CNN.com, which has started charging monthly fees for heavy users. In a statement, the company expressed confidence in the next phase of its digital plan. “Given our brand and reputation, the incredible talent at our disposal, and the spirit of innovation and commitment that has always been a hallmark of CNN, we truly believe that we have what it will take to make sure this great news organization succeeds,” a CNN representative said.

CNN will now have to prioritize growing its digital business while trying to maintain its traditional TV channel at a time when ratings are often driven by the tribal political preferences of the audience. Navigating the unsettled landscape will be tricky for CNN, as every move it makes is scrutinized by social media and right-wing outlets.

Acosta’s exit exemplified the polarization that CNN faces. The journalist was known for his aggressive questioning of the Trump administration, which at one point pulled his White House credentials.

Acosta was asked to give up his daytime program and anchor a live two-hour shift starting at midnight Eastern, when many viewers are asleep. The take-it-or-leave-it graveyard shift offer was largely seen internally and among many CNN fans as a capitulation to Trump, who immediately took to social media to celebrate Acosta’s departure.

Many critics and even a few former CNN executives believe the network was overzealous at times in its aggressive and often critical coverage of the first Trump administration. But CNN reached its highest viewership when it was considered part of the resistance to Trump.

The environment has only gotten more heated as even fact-checking the president now generates accusations of bias.

While it may be virtuous for consumers to say they want straight news without opinion, Nielsen ratings show otherwise. Fox News, which provides hours of pro-Trump commentary daily, has been the most watched cable network of any genre for eight consecutive years and now regularly pulls in the most viewers for the type of breaking news coverage that CNN used to own.

During Chris Licht’s brief tenure as head of CNN, he acted on Warner Bros. Discovery executives’ demands to bring more conservative viewers to the network. As a result, a large segment of the audience fled and the ratings have not recovered. In 2024, MSNBC beat CNN on major news events including election night and the Democratic National Convention for the first time ever.

CNN now relies heavily on Scott Jennings, a pundit who regularly echoes Trump talking points. (Jennings has also been tapped by Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong to add a right-leaning voice to the newspaper’s editorial board.)

One former CNN executive who did not want to speak publicly about his previous employer, said there’s “only anti-Trump and Trump and the hard part for the network is to thread that needle.”

But Klein believes a digital relaunch gives CNN a second chance to establish its value among consumers. “They’ve been a stellar brand far longer than they’ve been in the dumps,” he said. “Ask people, ‘What does CNN mean?’ and a vast majority will say, ‘the best breaking news coverage’ and ‘they help me understand the world.’”