Franklin Pierce
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CNN+ shutdown leaves Axed Staffers ‘aghast and furious’
The shocking announcement that CNN+ would be shutting down operations less than a month after it launched has left out-of-work staffers “aghast and furious” over the company’s handling of what sources inside the network call “an absolute debacle.”
Chris Licht, CNN’s newly installed CEO, who replaced the disgraced Jeff Zucker, broke the news to staffers at a noon meeting Thursday in New York.
Network insiders were horrified to learn that all junior staffers at the streaming service were let go. The roughly 300 staffers were offered six months’ severance as well as first dibs on job opportunities within CNN, according to sources.
Staffers were angry that junior employees were let go while big-ticket acquisitions will likely be reassigned within the company.
CNN+’s big-ticket acquisitions, meanwhile — including former Fox News star Chris Wallace and ex-MSNBC reporter Kasie Hunt — are expected to be reassigned to the cable news mothership or to other platforms within the Warner Bros. Discovery media empire.
Sources told The Post that CNN “overspent on talent” by giving Wallace $9 million per year while Hunt was lured away from MSNBC with an annual paycheck of $1 million.
With CNN+ shutting down, the prevailing sentiment in the newsroom is that Wallace will likely take over Chris Cuomo’s old 9 p.m. time slot. The Post has reached out to Wallace seeking comment.
“Many people left their stable jobs at CNN to go to CNN+ and then they pull it right after launch?” the source said.
“Everyone is aghast and furious.”
Hunt left MSNBC and joined CNN+ for a reported salary of $1 million per year.
Employees are also nursing resentment toward their new boss, Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav, because he recently led workers to believe that he would be giving CNN+ a chance, according to the insider.
CNN+ shutdown leaves axed staffers 'aghast and furious'
The shocking announcement that CNN+ would be shutting down operations less than a month after it launched has left out-of-work staffers “aghast and furious” over the company’s handling of what sources inside the network call “an absolute debacle.”
Chris Licht, CNN’s newly installed CEO, who replaced the disgraced Jeff Zucker, broke the news to staffers at a noon meeting Thursday in New York.
Network insiders were horrified to learn that all junior staffers at the streaming service were let go. The roughly 300 staffers were offered six months’ severance as well as first dibs on job opportunities within CNN, according to sources.
Staffers were angry that junior employees were let go while big-ticket acquisitions will likely be reassigned within the company.
CNN+’s big-ticket acquisitions, meanwhile — including former Fox News star Chris Wallace and ex-MSNBC reporter Kasie Hunt — are expected to be reassigned to the cable news mothership or to other platforms within the Warner Bros. Discovery media empire.
Sources told The Post that CNN “overspent on talent” by giving Wallace $9 million per year while Hunt was lured away from MSNBC with an annual paycheck of $1 million.
With CNN+ shutting down, the prevailing sentiment in the newsroom is that Wallace will likely take over Chris Cuomo’s old 9 p.m. time slot. The Post has reached out to Wallace seeking comment.
“Many people left their stable jobs at CNN to go to CNN+ and then they pull it right after launch?” the source said.
“Everyone is aghast and furious.”
Hunt left MSNBC and joined CNN+ for a reported salary of $1 million per year.
Employees are also nursing resentment toward their new boss, Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav, because he recently led workers to believe that he would be giving CNN+ a chance, according to the insider.
CNN+ shutdown leaves axed staffers 'aghast and furious'
