Report: CNN Profits Drop Below a Billon, Ratings Tank As Warner Bros. Discovery Plans Dramatic Cuts

CNN could miss its profitability target. This is due to a continuing crash in viewers, just like Warner Bros.’s parent company. Discovery is looking to make drastic cuts in its media properties.

The left-wing CNN’s profitability is expected to decline to $956.8 million this year, marking the first time since 2016 that the network had dipped below $1 billion in profit, according to a New York Times report that cited three people familiar with its operations.

The amount falls woefully short of the network’s initial 2022 profitability target of $1.1 billion, two people familiar with CNN’s operations told the newspaper.

In addition, CNN’s ratings continue to sink, dropping to 639,000 people in primetime this quarter, which represents a 27 percent decrease from a year ago. It continues to be a distant third of Fox News and MSNBC.

SCOOP — CNN is on pace to dip below $1 billion in profit for the first time since 2016 amid crashing ratings, sources say: https://t.co/10Fw7iofrp

— Ben Mullin (@BenMullin) August 2, 2022

The Times reported that CNN spent many millions on the conflict in Ukraine and continues to pay some of the costs associated with the defunct CNN+ such as Audie Cornish’s salary and Chris Wallace’s salaries.

CNN+ were among the Warner Bros.’s first victims. Discovery merger. Discovery executives closed down the highly-rated, but not well-viewed streaming service in April.

As Breitbart News reported, Warner Bros. In the next few weeks, Discovery will likely make drastic cuts to its workforce as CEO David Zaslav clears his desk. This is in addition to the pledge of at least $3B in savings.

The belt tightening is already being felt at Warner Bros., which recently announced it won’t release its $70 million Batgirl superhero movie. TBS’ Full Frontal starring Samantha Bee was also cancelled by Warner Bros. a perennial ratings disappointment whose host, Samantha Bee, made increasingly radical-left statements, including calling Ivanka Trump “cunt” while urging viewers to harass Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito

Warner Bros. also saw a few high-profile executive departures including Toby Emmerich, movie chief.

In May, Chris Licht, the new CNN chief said to his staff that he did not expect Warner Bros. After the shut down of CNN+, Discovery will be implementing more layoffs at CNN.

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