CNN chief Mark Thompson told employees Wednesday that he hopes to remain with the network and be “useful” to its new leadership after Paramount completes its takeover of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, The Post has learned.
Thompson spoke to CNN staff during a quarterly town hall that began shortly after 11 a.m. and ran until about 12:25 p.m. The meeting focused on the company’s performance and its editorial direction.
But Thompson also addressed the central concern hanging over the network: what will happen to CNN once Paramount takes control of Warner Bros. Discovery?
According to a CNN source, Thompson told employees he “remained very committed to CNN” and wanted to stay on if he could be “useful” to his “new bosses.”
The executive acknowledged that he did not know what David Ellison’s Paramount planned to do with CNN. He also said he had not been told what role, if any, he would have in the combined company.
Thompson and Chief Financial Officer Adam Cohn also reviewed the basic details of the proposed merger, with Cohn delivering a standard “State of the Business” update, an insider said.
A network source said Thompson additionally discussed CNN’s lawsuit, filed alongside MS NOW and Politico, against the Trump administration after it revoked their press credentials and barred their reporters from White House grounds.
During the question-and-answer session, Thompson sought to ease employees’ concerns as they pressed him for more details about the Paramount merger.
He urged staffers not to draw conclusions or speculate about Ellison’s plans, saying he did not know the answers himself.
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“I feel bad for Mark,” one staffer said. “He’s as in the dark as all of us.”
The employee said some staffers became “upset” toward the end of the meeting because Thompson was not “being more direct.”
CNN declined to comment.
CNN employees have been on edge since Paramount settled an antitrust lawsuit Monday with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, removing a major obstacle to the creation of a media giant that would own CBS News and CNN, as well as Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., HBO Max and Paramount+.
Sources told The Post earlier this week that CNN staffers fear an “inevitable bloodbath” of layoffs once the deal closes in the coming weeks.
Paramount has projected at least $6 billion in cost savings, a figure that could translate into several thousand job cuts over the months ahead.
Beyond concerns about layoffs, CNN employees are watching how CBS News has changed under Ellison’s stewardship, particularly the overhaul led by news chief Bari Weiss.
Several sources recently said they feared Weiss had “blown up” CBS News’ top-rated program, “60 Minutes,” after Scott Pelley and other correspondents were fired along with a number of senior producers. They also worried that Weiss could eventually be given oversight of CNN.
Ellison has not publicly outlined a leadership structure for CNN. Still, speculation has intensified that Weiss, who serves as editor-in-chief of CBS News, could take on authority over the network as well.
Other sources close to Ellison have dismissed that possibility, telling The Post that he is not considering such an arrangement.