Cable news giant CNN is reportedly parting ways with staffers on one of the last remaining leftovers of its CNN+ streaming service that it axed earlier this year.
About 20 staffers were laid off Wednesday, including workers on the Interview Club, which claimed to offer subscribers “access to newsmakers like never before,” multiple sources confirmed to the Daily Beast.
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“Leadership has spent the past several months evaluating our business to ensure it is best positioned for the future,” a CNN spokesperson said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “CNN has opened more than 300 new jobs since May and will continue to align our resources with our greatest opportunities for growth.”
The Interview Club was initiated alongside CNN+ and offered subscribers the chance to connect with CNN talent such as anchors, reporters, and guests. Staffers who were given the pink slip were told they could apply for other work at the network.
CNN+ was axed in late April after the network poured an estimated $300 million into the platform, according to the Wall Street Journal. Former CNN chief Jeff Zucker had bet big on the project, hoping to enter the heavily saturated streaming service market. But following his ouster from the network, upper brass at the company moved to scrap the project.
Wednesday’s layoffs come on the heels of other belt-tightening measures at the network over recent days. CNN recently cut a “small number” of people in its audio division, the New York Post reported. The network is reportedly planning to scale down its podcast and audio operations.
Over recent weeks, chief Chris Licht, who took command of the network after Zucker’s resignation earlier this year and amid WarnerMedia’s merger with Discovery, has been conducting a purge of staff, cleaning house at the network.
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Since his ascension, Licht has reportedly been keen on dialing down partisan overtones at CNN. Talent such as former Reliable Sources anchor Brian Stelter and CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin has left the network in recent weeks.
The network has reportedly been dogged by dimming profit projects and a ratings decline. Staffers have reportedly been rankled by the new direction Licht is steering the company.
