CNN Hosts Spiraling As New Boss Mark Thompson Plans 'Immense Change,' Budget Cuts: Report
Feb. 19 2024, Published 9:30 a.m. ET
CNN’s new boss Mark Thompson recently announced that “immense change is coming”— which left many of the network’s biggest stars concerned about their future.
Sources close to the situation revealed Thompson caused fear among talent after his comments to staff last week.
Anderson is the highest paid anchor at the network.
Things got worse after The Wrap reported Thompson planned to cut around $50 million in talent salaries. The report said Anderson Cooper and Jake Tapper had the longest amount of time left on their contracts.
Semafor said as a result, “the talent agents who represent anchors with seven and eight-figure packages freaked out.”
Semafor said Thompson spent the past week calming down his talent who were concerned he planned to lean away from talent.
Jake Tapper pulls in around $8.5 million per year.
At the moment, Anderson Cooper pulls in around $20 million per year while Wolf Blitzer commands $15 million. Jake Tapper is paid a more reasonable $8.5 million.
The report said Chris Wallace is paid a bit under $8 million while Jon Berman, Kate Bolduan, and Sara Sidner make around $1-$2 million each.
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Semafor says several agents freaked out over the past week.
Thompson's decision to reduce the budget comes as CNN continues to slip in the ratings. The new boss recently decided to dump Poppy Harlow and Phil Mattingly from the network's morning show.
The morning show was revamped by Thompson's predecessor Chris Licht.
Licht cast Harlow, Don Lemon, and Kaitlan Collins on the show. Lemon and his cast members clashed and he was eventually terminated.
Lemon was reportedly making $7 million per year at CNN.
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Chris Licht exited the network last year.
In July 2023, Licht was shown the door himself after a rough year at the helm.
"This job was never going to be easy, especially at a time of great disruption and transformation, and Chris poured his heart and soul into it," David Zaslav said about the decision. "He has a deep love for journalism and this business and that has been evident throughout his tenure. Unfortunately, things did not work out the way we had hoped — and ultimately that's on me."
