CNN's Future Has Never Looked Bleaker Ahead Of WBD Split | Bobby Burack

Last week, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced plans to split its assets into two companies. Like NBCUniversal, WBD will separate its in-vogue streaming and film studios from its out-of-date cable networks, like CNN, TNT, and TBS.

The cable company, tentatively dubbed Global Networks, essentially serves the purpose of absorbing $30 billion of WBD's total debt. This way, WBD can rid its streaming company of the dead weight that perturbs investors.

Put simply, WBD's cable networks are not a priority and are seen as a burden. And according to Fox News Digital, such a reality has stirred an unsettling feeling inside CNN.

"I'd say the mood remains really grim," one CNN staffer told Fox News Digital. "People are uncertain."

"We knew this was happening," the staffer added. "And it was required to be able to sell the company. People are hoping CNN will be sold - and as [CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels] said, there is no limit, any sale can be made at any time - to a buyer who will invest in it. That's the bottom line."

Ideally, WBD would sell CNN and TBS/TNT. But the market could be bleak. It's unlikely any tech company would be interested in cable channels, given their lack of growth potential. As WBD realized, cable networks only bog down the value of a company with streaming assets as a whole.

Specifically, CNN has never been worth less than it is today. The network is on pace to have its lowest-rated year in the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults aged 25-54 ever. The cable news network is a distant third behind MSNBC and Fox News and has struggled to establish a distinctive identity since Trump left office in 2021.

Last week was one of the busier news weeks since President Trump assumed office amid the anti-ICE riots, the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary, the "No Kings" protests, and increasing tensions in the Middle East. And yet, CNN averaged just 775,000 viewers in primetime and 561,000 in total day.

Fox News averaged 3.5 million in primetime and 1.9 million in total day. MSNBC drew 1.2 million and 699,000, respectively. For reference, CNN ranks closer to NewsNation and Newsmax in viewership than it does Fox News, with which it used to compete.

In almost any scenario, mass talent layoffs are expected at CNN. If WBD sells the network, the new buyer will want to staff the channel with its own hosts and reporters. If WBD can't sell the network, it will almost certainly slim down the roster and operate as cheaply as possible.

Network stalwart Anderson Cooper may already see the writing on the wall. Cooper, whom CNN pays around $18 million a year, recently hired a new Hollywood agent, a move talents usually make when they brace for career changes.

Another potential point of contention is the editorial bent of the network moving forward. WBD David Zazlav tried – somewhat unsuccessfully – to tone down the white-hot liberal partisanship of CNN. Zaslav will no longer oversee CNN (he will run the streaming network) and thus it's unclear what WBD CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels (who will run Global Networks) will prefer editorially.

"Zaslav killed this place. He killed it," a second CNN staffer told Fox News Digital. "The amount of debt the new thing that CNN is part of isn’t ideal, but at least it can be a new beginning. The last few years under Zas has been a disaster in terms of what he has done."

Disaster, indeed.

Per court records, CNN’s revenue dropped roughly $400 million over the past three years. Revenue is expected to drop for a fourth straight year at the end of 2025.

CNN's future has never been bleaker. In fact, it's hard to imagine the channel existing in its current form by this time in 2027.