CNN is expected to lay off as many as 50 people as part of a downsize of its digital operations despite significant investment in digital productions in recent years.
According to Vanity Fair, CNN will curb some high-profile digital initiatives such as their virtual reality and Snapchat production projects.
Like numerous other digital brands, CNN missed recent revenue projections.
“The budget measures seem to take some heat off the ambitious digital futurism that CNN was preaching just under a year ago,” Pompeo writes, noting that last year the company was looking to challenge Vice and Buzzfeed’s grip on digital media.
Nonetheless, CNN is still profitable. The company employs thousands of people around the world and makes $1 billion in annual profits. In the past 18 months, CNN has hired more than 200 new staff.
“We’ve been transparent about our strategy. In order to innovate, grow and experiment, we’ve added more than 200 jobs in the past 18 months. Not every new project has paid off so we will stop some activities in order to reallocate those resources and enable future experimentation,” a representative for CNN said.
CNN is a key property in AT&T’s planned $85 billion takeover of the networks parent company, Time Warner. Last year, the Justice Department sued to stop the deal. A trial is set to begin on March 19 to decide whether the buyout will be allowed to take place.
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