CNN Star Salary ‘Beheadings’: ‘Take It or Leave It’ is the New Message
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On a hot Sunday afternoon in late April, CNN CEO Mark Thompson was enjoying a rock star’s welcome at a White House Correspondents’ weekend brunch, co-hosted by his network, in the garden of the British Ambassador’s residence in Washington, D.C. Network stars Kaitlan Collins, Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown mingled while guests drank Pimm’s and lined up to schmooze with Thompson. He was the new kid on the block, just six months into the job. With Chris Licht’s chaotic reign at CNN in the rearview, Thompson was basking in glorious sunshine and high expectations for his leadership to right the ship.
But another six months on, the honeymoon for the former New York Times and BBC honcho is well and truly over. Thompson is facing a long, dark winter of slashing anchor and correspondent salaries while also managing inevitable layoffs (on top of the hundreds of jobs already lost at CNN) that insiders expect to be a “bloodbath.”
Since taking the gig in Oct. 2023, Thompson has been hunkered down inside a windowless office at Manhattan’s Hudson Yards, prioritizing CNN’s digital strategy over all else and leaving the ratings-challenged primetime programming to muddle on with talent increasingly nervous about their contracts.
“If you are not getting an offer several months out, you are in a precarious place,” one CNN staffer tells me. “That anxiety has trickled down and out and across the place.” That sentiment was echoed by everyone I spoke to — more than 15 current and former network insiders, including talent and execs — about what’s coming next and who’s expected to hold onto their role (and their salary) once Thompson starts making big moves.
In this newsletter I’ll reveal:
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Which CNN stars are safe, and who isn’t
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CEO Mark Thompson’s stance in contract negotiations — and why talent should worry if they haven’t been contacted before their term ends
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Why the network’s national correspondents are especially at risk
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The brutal cost calculus of shifting jobs to Atlanta from NYC
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What happened with talks to bring former Vice News leader Josh Tyrangiel on board
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The palpable tension between linear leader Virginia Moseley and digital leader Alex MacCallum
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What Thompson’s search for “edgy” talent actually means
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How workflow and responsibilities at CNN are about to radically change
Thompson recently gave Jake Tapper a new three-year deal, but without an increase in pay, leaving the host of The Lead — and CNN’s chief Washington correspondent — making around $7 million a year, I’m told. Blitzer also has been renewed with a three-year deal at his previous salary (about $3 million). News Central co-anchor John Berman, who hosts that show’s morning edition alongside Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner, is another to have had his contract renewed, staying at the $1 million he’d been making, according to people familiar with the matter. (A rep for Tapper did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)
“Flat is the new up,” one top agent tells me with a laugh.
A question mark still hangs over Chris Wallace, whose contract is up and who’s been offered a new deal for significantly less than the $8.5 million pact he inked under former CNN boss Jeff Zucker. The 77-year-old Wallace was spotted in Thompson’s office Tuesday.
