CNN has been hemorrhaging viewers for years as Americans reject their biased coverage.
But things just got a whole lot worse for the struggling network.
And CNN got some bad news that could put the network out of business for good.
Warner Bros. Discovery gives CNN the boot
CNN just got handed its walking papers by parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, which announced it’s spinning off the struggling network into a separate company.
The corporate breakup puts CNN and other declining cable channels on one side while keeping the money-making movie studios and streaming services on the other.
It’s the business equivalent of a divorce where one spouse gets stuck with all the debt and bills.
The new company will carry the unfortunate name "Global Networks" and inherit most of Warner Bros. Discovery’s crushing debt load while the profitable entertainment assets get a fresh start.
Anyone with half a brain can see what’s really happening here – Warner Bros. Discovery is cutting CNN loose before it sinks the whole ship.
CNN employees are panicking about their future
The mood inside CNN’s newsroom has turned toxic as employees brace for what could be the final chapter of the once-mighty news network.
"I’d say the mood remains really grim," one CNN staffer told Fox News Digital. "People are uncertain."
That’s corporate speak for "we’re all updating our resumes."
Another CNN employee was even more blunt about the network’s dire situation.
"Zaslav killed this place. He killed it," a second CNN staffer said about Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. "The amount of debt the new thing that CNN is part of isn’t ideal, but at least it can be a new beginning. The last few years under Zas has been a disaster in terms of what he has done."
When your own employees are publicly trashing the CEO, you know things have reached rock bottom.
The writing is on the wall for CNN, and everyone inside the building knows it.
CNN’s new boss specializes in budget cuts
The executive chosen to run CNN’s uncertain future is Gunnar Wiedenfels, Warner Bros. Discovery’s chief financial officer who has earned a reputation for slashing costs and tightening budgets.
CNN employees know what’s coming and they’re not happy about it.
"I think they’ve telegraphed clearly that more cuts are coming. Gunnar ‘efficiency,’" one CNN staffer warned.
Wiedenfels isn’t known for his warm and fuzzy management style.
His job is to squeeze every penny out of CNN’s operations, which means more layoffs and budget cuts are inevitable.
"His remit is not to grow stuff. This company is a cash-flow giant with shrinking revenue," the CNN staffer explained. "Like that’s the deal. It’s merely a matter of how fast it shrinks."
That’s not exactly the kind of leadership that inspires confidence in the newsroom.
CNN’s ratings are in complete freefall
The corporate restructuring comes at the worst possible time for CNN, which is already struggling with historically low ratings.
The network suffered its second-worst month ever in the key 25-54 demographic in May and is on track for its lowest-rated year ever.
Fox News continues to dominate cable news while CNN fights for scraps with MSNBC.
Americans have simply stopped trusting CNN after years of biased coverage and fake news controversies.
The network’s credibility took a major hit during the Trump years when they positioned themselves as the "resistance" rather than neutral journalists.
Now they’re paying the price as viewers tune out in record numbers.
CNN employees are already planning their exits
The desperation inside CNN’s newsroom is palpable as employees openly discuss their escape plans.
"I’m trying to figure out what I’ll do next when the whole thing collapses, but I don’t even know when that will be," one CNN staffer admitted to Fox News Digital.
"If we go under, I’ll get a new job. Maybe making more money, maybe making less money, who cares? At the end of the day, it’s just a job, right?"
That’s the sound of someone who has already mentally checked out.
When your own employees are casually discussing the network’s collapse, you know the end is near.
CNN has been passed around like an unwanted stepchild
CNN’s corporate history reads like a sad game of musical chairs, with the network getting bounced from one owner to another over the past three decades.
The network started with Time Warner in the 1990s, then got shipped off to AOL in the early 2000s, followed by AT&T in 2018, and finally landed at Warner Bros. Discovery in 2022.
Each new corporate parent tried to figure out what to do with CNN, and each eventually decided it was more trouble than it was worth.
Now Warner Bros. Discovery is essentially throwing in the towel by spinning CNN off into a debt-heavy separate company that nobody really wants to own.
Industry critics are already comparing CNN’s fate to HLN, which "no longer exists" according to media analyst Dylan Byers.
CNN’s latest attempt to stay relevant
Current CNN CEO Mark Thompson took over in 2023 with big plans to modernize the network and make it relevant in the digital age.
But Thompson inherited a network that was already hemorrhaging viewers and credibility.
The upcoming launch of a new streaming service this fall represents CNN’s latest desperate attempt to find an audience, but it’s hard to see how streaming will save them when their core television audience keeps shrinking.
"We don’t have streaming yet so – it’s hard to imagine it doesn’t get worse," one CNN staffer said.
Thompson inherited a network that was already in decline, and the corporate restructuring suggests that even his bosses don’t have much faith in his turnaround plan.
The final nail in CNN’s coffin
Despite the grim outlook, some CNN employees are still clinging to hope that a new owner might rescue the network.
"People are hoping CNN will be sold," one staffer said, "to a buyer who will invest in it."
But who would want to buy a sinking ship?
CNN’s brand has been so damaged by years of biased coverage that it’s hard to imagine any serious buyer stepping forward.
One CNN employee tried to remain optimistic, comparing the network to Nike.
"I think it is possible for CNN to be invested in and be a relevant, powerful brand," the staffer said. "To me – and I’m biased – CNN is a brand like Nike. If we throw it away, that is a choice and a management-driven thing, not a macro fait accompli."
But CNN isn’t Nike.
Nike makes products people actually want to buy.
CNN produces content that Americans are actively rejecting.
The network’s corporate owners have tried everything to save it, and nothing has worked.
Now they’re essentially admitting defeat by spinning it off into a separate company loaded with debt.
It’s not a turnaround plan – it’s a burial shroud.
CNN’s days as a major news network appear to be numbered, and everyone inside the building knows it.
The only question now is whether the network will fade away slowly or collapse all at once.
