CNN Begins Laying Off CNN+ Staffers Following Shutdown

By Jason Lynch 

A little more than a month after Warner Bros. Discovery announced it was pulling the plug on CNN+, CNN began laying off affected staffers today, multiple sources told TVNewser.

It is unclear how many people are affected in total, but approximately 23 staffers in CNN’s Hudson Yards offices were told today that their positions were being eliminated, according to a source.

Another source confirmed that layoffs had occurred, but noted that the company is still trying to place those impacted CNN+ staffers in other positions around CNN and Warner Bros. Discovery.

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As TVNewser previously reported, new CNN Worldwide chairman and CEO Chris Licht said in an internal memo that “all CNN+ employees will continue to be paid and receive benefits for the next 90 days to explore opportunities at CNN, CNN Digital and elsewhere in the Warner Bros. Discovery family.”

Staffers who aren’t absorbed in the new Warner Bros. Discovery will receive a minimum of six months of severance, Licht told CNN staffers at a separate town hall.

Last month, Warner Bros. Discovery shut down the highly-publicized subscription-based streaming news service CNN+, less than a month after it launched. That decision came less than two weeks after WarnerMedia and Discovery formally merged. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has pledged to find $3 billion in cost-savings, raising the likelihood of significant layoffs as the companies combine.

Last week, CNN Digital editor-in-chief and svp Meredith Artley announced her departure. She was the second high-level CNN digital executive to exit since April’s WarnerMedia/Discovery merger closed. Artley’s former boss, CNN digital evp and the executive in change of the now-defunct CNN+, Andrew Morse, left earlier this month.

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