The cuts will affect a broad swath of employees, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. Executives have discussed cutting $100 million in costs, but Mr. Licht has said he would try to preserve news gathering jobs. The network’s most high-profile anchors are not expected to be affected.
Mr. Licht has tried to avoid cutting photojournalists and video editors and will aim to preserve spending on prime-time and morning programming, the people said. The company also plans to hire more employees for its core digital business, they said.
Puck earlier reported on the scope of the cuts.
Mr Light signaled the cuts in a memo to employees last month, telling workers that executives would take a hard look at spending across the business and noting that the layoffs would result in “noticeable change.”
The October announcement came as a surprise to many employees. Months earlier, Mr. Licht told employees that he didn’t expect Warner Bros. Discovery to impose additional job cuts at CNN after it shut the CNN+ streaming service, which resulted in sweeping layoffs.
“No one has said to me, ‘You’re going to have to go cut this,’” Mr. Licht said in Mayaccording to a recording of those remarks obtained by The New York Times. Mr. Licht said in a meeting with employees this month that the guidance on cost-cutting was accurate when he gave it.