Is CNN’s era coming to an end?

CNN’s ongoing struggle to adapt to the digital era continues despite significant efforts to pivot away from traditional cable TV. While CEO Mark Thompson has shifted the network’s focus to digital, launching a $3.99 paywall and securing a reported $70 million investment from parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, the results have not been as successful as hoped.

In January of this year, CNN laid off hundreds of employees, reflecting the network’s ongoing financial difficulties as it contends with falling ratings.

The layoffs, which impacted various departments across the network, came after CNN’s continued financial losses and ratings decline. While marquee personalities like Jake Tapper, Anderson Cooper, and Kaitlan Collins were spared, the decision affected approximately 300 employees.

According to reports, the layoffs were part of a broader effort to streamline operations as CNN faced mounting pressure to adjust to the rapidly changing media landscape. The cuts follow a difficult period for CNN, which had struggled with the collapse of CNN+ in 2022, a costly failure that saw Warner Bros. Discovery lose an estimated $300 million.

Even during the crucial 2024 US election coverage, CNN faced hurdles. The network secured exclusive interviews with Democratic candidate President Joe Biden and later Vice President Kamala Harris after she replaced Biden in the race. Despite landing major scoops, CNN failed to translate these exclusives into a significant ratings boost, as audiences continued to favor its competitors.

Primetime ratings for CNN shows also continued to decline. Programs like The Source with Kaitlan Collins and NewsNight with Abby Phillip brought in fewer than 500,000 total viewers, with Anderson Cooper 360 being the only primetime show to cross the half-a-million mark. Even then, it struggled with the key 25 to 54-year-old demographic.

The ratings and financial decline had continued into 2024, with CNN’s revenue falling from $2.2 billion in 2021 to $1.8 billion in 2023. Meanwhile, its competitors like Fox News and MSNBC have maintained stronger viewership, further amplifying CNN’s difficulties in making the digital transition.

Despite the considerable investments made in digital, the network still faces an uphill battle to successfully reinvent itself in a rapidly changing media landscape.

CNN Philippines shut down

The network’s troubles also extend across the globe. In the Philippines, CNN Philippines ceased operations on 31 January 2024, citing “significant financial losses” over the past few years.

Launched in 2015 as a franchise delivering primarily English-language news, CNN Philippines served audiences through free-to-air, cable, and pay television. After nine years on air, Nine Media Corporation, the owner of CNN Philippines, announced the shutdown and assured its staff of about 300 employees of severance packages.

Reports also suggested that businessman Ramon Ang was one of CNN Philippines’ stakeholders, a development connected to his 2017 efforts to acquire shares in various media companies.

The fall of CNN Philippines and the sharp decline in its US principal’s ratings mark a dramatic turn for a network that once revolutionized news. CNN first aired on 1 June 1980, with husband-and-wife team Dave Walker and Lois Hart anchoring its first broadcast. Over decades, CNN became a trusted source for breaking news, covering wars, natural disasters, politics, and cultural milestones around the world.

Now, as financial pressures mount and digital experiments stumble, CNN faces a new kind of battle: remaining relevant in a world it once helped shape through cable television journalism.