• Join Puck

    Directly Supporting Authors

    A new economic model in which writers are also partners in the business.

    Personalized Subscriptions

    Customize your settings to receive the newsletters you want from the authors you follow.

    Stay in the Know

    Connect directly with Puck talent through email and exclusive events.

  • What is puck? Newsletters Authors Podcasts Events Gift Puck Careers

CNN After CNN

The contracting news network is finally leveling with staff that its future won’t look anything like its past. But Mark Thompson is still focused on where and how people consume news, without offering a vision for how CNN competes in a more crowded media landscape.

Mark Thompson CNN
Thompson is moving things in the right direction again, albeit from a far less advantageous position. In 2022, CNN was still a formidable player in news media, with cultural market share, a clear editorial mission, and more than $1 billion in annual profits. Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Dylan Byers
January 25, 2025

On Thursday, about 15 months into his tenure—two months longer than his predecessor, Chris Licht, lasted—CNN chairman and C.E.O. Mark Thompson unveiled a number of changes intended to advance the network along its tortured progression from 45-year-old cable news channel to its end goal of being a thriving, multiplatform digital enterprise. Most notably, he previewed the launch of a new, subscription-supported streaming service; hinted at unspecified subscription lifestyle products; and stressed the need to transform the clunky CNN website and app into “a modern and premium video-driven experience.” These efforts, fueled by a $70 million investment from parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, marked the first step in the unit’s plan to reach $1 billion in digital revenue by 2030. One can only assume that, by then, $1 billion would more or less cover over the business’s expected losses in linear revenue.