Top CNN Anchors Could See MASSIVE Pay Cuts Amid Network's 'Revolution' With New CEO

The new CEO of the cable news company CNN, Mark Thompson, is looking to shake up the newsroom with major cuts to the salaries of star anchors across the network's programs. Anchor salaries alone cost the network over $50 million a year and have been a major burden on the company's finances.

Thompson, who previously ran the BBC and The New York Times, is looking to start a "revolution" of the company, with anchor salaries being first on the chopping block. According to The Wrap, CNN's top anchors get a multi-million dollar salary a year, with Anderson Cooper at $20 million per year, Wolf Blitzer at $15 million, Jake Tapper at $8.5 million, Chris Wallace at $8 million, and John Berman, Kate Bolduan, and Sara Sidner each having a salary at $1 million to $2 million.

In a memo to staff, Thompson outlined that production costs needed to be cut, with the biggest salaries in the company likely to be the first target. "We must abandon our preconceptions of the limits of what CNN can be and follow the audience to where they are now and where they will be in the years to come," he wrote to CNN employees. "We will still stand for the same things — video-led breaking news, delivered as it happens with honesty and insight — but with greater flexibility about the how and multiple new forms of monetization to complement existing revenues." 

While some anchors may receive an immediate pay cut, a handful still have ongoing contracts that don't expire until 2025 or 2026. Rival left-wing network MSNBC would likely try to take advantage of the anchor cuts by enticing CNN stars to jump ship and join their cable news lineup.

"The first thing they need to do is dramatically reduce costs," media analyst Rich Greenfield told The Wrap. "If you work at CNN your compensation is going to go down dramatically over the next…five years, there's just no other way around it. It's not like CNN will lose their talent, there's nowhere to go that would pay that much."

In addition to cutting production costs, Thompson has already made many programming changes, including removing hosts from shows and changing the location of CNN's morning programming from New York to Atlanta, Georgia, to save money. 

CNN's financial situation has been created by years of poor ratings performance thanks to a tattered reputation and an inability to stay competitive in an environment that is getting increasingly digital. The digital age has brought about the beginning of the end for cable news, and if they fail to adapt, CNN will be the first casualty.

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