They were once considered the “king” of network news.
But lately CNN has been more like the court jester.
And CNN executives just got the worst news of their lives when they saw these shocking numbers.
It’s no secret CNN has been on a downward spiral over the past decade.
The network’s ratings haven’t come close to matching those of Fox News, to the point where it seems that they’re not even trying anymore.
And lately, it’s only gotten worse for CNN, as the network’s shows have even failed to beat the ratings of cooking shows and infomercials at times.
But the latest news about the network has even CNN’s own multi-millionaire executives scrambling for a soft place to land.
In fact, things are so bad at the network that invented the 24-hour news cycle that their restructured parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, is planning massive cuts across the board.
The news comes as CNN is reportedly on pace to miss annual profit expectations – both internally and on Wall Street – by a substantial, larger-than-expected margin, as their ratings continue to plummet.
The corporate-controlled media outlet’s profitability is expected to decline to just $956.8 million in 2022, which would be the first year since 2016 that the troubled network has seen its profits dip below the $1 billion threshold.
The New York Times reported that CNN’s adjusted profit expectations fall significantly short of its initial 2022 target of $1.1 billion, according two people familiar with CNN’s operations.
In addition, though it seemed they couldn’t sink any lower, CNN’s ratings have yet to find a new bottom.
This quarter, the network’s average primetime viewership has dropped to just 639,000, a whopping 27% decrease from the same time period last year.
Despite its considerable resources – and the fact that every doctor’s office in America plays it all day, every day – the network continues to place a distant third behind Fox News and MSNBC.
The Times reported that CNN has invested millions of dollars into its coverage of the war in Ukraine, all in the hopes it would increase viewership.
That has not happened.
And the network is still paying costs related to its now-defunct CNN+ streaming service, which includes the salary of former Fox News anchor Chris Wallace.
The streaming service was highly touted and promoted heavily by the network, but as it turns out, no one wants to pay for the same leftist drivel they already weren’t watching for free.
The little-watched streaming service lasted just a month before it became one of the very first casualties of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger after executives shut it down back in April.
All expectations indicate Warner Bros. Discovery will enact drastic cuts and layoffs across its operations – especially at CNN – in the coming weeks, as CEO David Zaslav cleans house and fulfills his pledge to find at least $3 billion in savings for shareholders.
That process has already began, as Warner Bros. announced it won’t release its latest D.C. Comics franchise, Batgirl, despite reportedly pouring $70 million into its production, or a new Scooby Doo movie it reportedly budgeted $40 million for.
The studio also canceled the disaster of a TBS show that is Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.
Full Frontal’s ratings also consistently under-performed, as its disgusting host made increasingly nasty, bizarre, radical left-wing pronouncements, like calling Ivanka Trump a “cunt” and urging her viewers to harass Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.
Of course, CNN’s new president, Chris Licht, told employees back in May that he didn’t expect Warner Bros. Discovery to enact more layoffs at CNN after the shutdown of CNN+.
But that looks like quite the empty promise now.