CNN staffers have been left ‘scared and frustrated’ after hearing the struggling network will undergo budget cuts and layoffs. Stars including Jake Tapper and Wolf Blitzer have reportedly been denied raises on their multi-million-dollar salaries as the biggest names on the network fear for their futures. On-screen favorite Chris Wallace also departed the network earlier this week, although he insisted that he did so on his own terms. A longtime CNN employee told Fox News that after news of the layoffs spread, staff across the company are left feeling ‘very sad and deeply frustrated.’

‘Feelings which are pervasive throughout the organization among those who have been here a long time and feel a deep personal connection to having helped build the organization,’ the anonymous staffer added. News of CNN’s budget cuts and layoffs first spread after an explosive report from Puck News, warning that network executives are set to take drastic action to save the company’s flailing reputation. Although there is no mention of who may be on the chopping block, it is feared that the cuts could hit everyone from low-level staff to those such as Cooper and his $20 million-a-year salary.

‘In the next few months, I’m told, CNN will implement another round of layoffs that will impact hundreds of employees across the organization,’ reporter Dylan Byers wrote Friday, referencing CNN’s recent 100-person layoff seen over the summer. The fresh round of firings, the insiders said, will be more geared toward the production side of the company – but on-screen ‘talent’ will be impacted too. Sources added to Fox News that the layoffs would be implemented ‘by March’ and they would include ‘very meaningful’ names to the rest of the staff at the company. ‘It’s a time of a complete and utter business model overhaul and chaos. Extremely difficult even under the best circumstances,’ they added.

A second CNN staffer told the outlet that they blame CEO Mark Thompson for the move, after he took the helm at the company just over a year ago and was immediately clear in his intention to change their approach. ‘I am worried because the industry is obviously in trouble… I’m sure there will be cuts,’ the second insider said. Amid rumors the cuts will hit CNN’s most expensive shows, the staffer suspected ‘more shows will be streamlined and produced out of Atlanta’ to cut down on costs.

Disgruntled workers fear they may be expected to pick up the slack of their fired former co-workers, and Puck News reported how on-air workers will be ‘asked to assume more of the responsibilities once handled by teams of producers and production assistants.’ ‘Redundant assignments will be nixed, and various divisions will be reduced or even eliminated. ‘Some of the on-air talents are also likely to be affected,’ the bombshell report warned. The Puck report also named Thompson as the driving force behind the move.

A former New York Times boss brought in to overhaul the network under its Warner Bros. Discovery parent. Thompson’s start has struggled since this past August when ratings have fallen more than 20 percent. Under Licht – a tenure that lasted a little over a year – the station fell from being the most-watched cable news network on election nights, to one of the least. In 2016, when it was headed by since-ousted leader Jeff Zucker, it was the most-watched network overall – a distinction that’s now held by Fox News. At the time, CNN had averaged 13.3 million viewers in primetime. Today, it’s only around 800,000.

Right-leaning Fox hosts like Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity, and Greg Gutfeld, meanwhile, are averaging 2.8 million viewers in the same timeslots – the most in a field that’s currently being affected by streaming and other forms of media. Adding insult to injury was CNN’s struggles on election day – a day that eight years ago would’ve seen it score a decisive ratings victory. However, following a Trump presidency and a term from the Biden Administration, it lost to MSNBC in terms of ratings – something never seen before as it only drew in 5.1 million sets of eyes that night.

MSNBC, meanwhile, raked in 6 million – a number eclipsed almost twofold by Fox News’ 10.3 million. The numbers, aired this week in the form of Nielsen statistics, appear to show a shifting field when it comes to cable news – one seemingly set to continue with Trump’s second term in office. It was revealed Monday that longtime host Chris Wallace would not have his $8.5 million-a-year contract renewed, with the 77-year-old confirming the development in an interview with the Daily Beast as he pondered a full-time podcasting career.

‘This is the first time in 55 years I‘ve been between jobs,’ he said that same day. ‘I am actually excited and liberated by that.’ As for other high-paid figures like Cooper and Burnett, their fates remain uncertain. Days earlier, The Ankler had reported that Tapper and Blitzer were denied raises, and that officials were mulling a pay cut for Wallace. The newsletter also revealed how Tapper was instead resigned to a three-year contract – one that would seem him paid the same $7 million annually that he had earned in years past.

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