is laying off around 6% of its workforce, the company announced Thursday morning, as it institutes sweeping new changes to the 45-year-old news network, including a new weekday show lineup and digital strategy.
CEO Mark Thompson announced that will soon unveil a new streaming service, a redesigned digital footprint and new subscriber services as well as the new show line up. parent company Warner Bros. Discovery is investing $70 million into ’s digital plans, Thompson said.
The layoffs mean about 200 jobs will be lost, although Thompson said in a note to staff that there will be many new job openings, so that the company doesn’t expect overall headcount to fall much by the end of the year.
“The changes we’re announcing today are part of an ongoing response by this great news organization to profound and irreversible shifts in the way audiences in America and around the world consume news,” Thompson wrote in a memo to staff.
“Our objective is a simple one: to shift ’s gravity towards the platforms and products where the audience themselves are shifting and, by doing that, to secure ’s future as one of the world’s greatest news organizations. America and the world need high quality, fair-minded, trustworthy sources of news more than ever. This difficult and sometimes painful process of change is the only way to make sure we can still provide it.”
The cuts have long been expected, as the network revamps and reshapes its news operation with a focus on digital growth. Nearly all major news networks are dealing with drops in viewership and revenue as they face increasing headwinds from an audience dissipating to other platforms.
Last summer, cut 100 people, about 3% of its workforce, as it reorganized its newsgathering operation.
has since launched a paid subscription service at $3.99 per month, for which readers are asked to pay after they consume a certain number of free articles, and select stories are placed behind a paywall. On Thursday, Thompson announced there will be further subscriber products, including ’s first lifestyle-oriented digital product.
Although already has a streaming service with Max, Thompson said there are plans to launch an additional streaming product, although it did not yet announce what kind of programming the new streaming service will provide. Max, as it stands, “is not a complete answer to the future of the great linear experience,” Thompson wrote.
Under the new weekday lineup, Wolf Blitzer’s “Situation Room” moves to 10am to 12pm and will now include Pamela Brown as co-anchor, replacing Jim Acosta’s hour. Audie Cornish, who had been hosting a podcast for , will now anchor a new 6am show, while Kasie Hunt moves to 4pm. Rahel Solomon will also anchor a new show starting at 5am.
A spokesperson said that they are “in active discussions with Jim about a new time slot and will have more information to share soon.”
The new weekday lineup, Thompson wrote, will bring “energy and competitive edge” while also putting “production costs on sustainable footing to match the changing economics of linear television platforms.” The new schedule launches in March.
