Report: CNN To Slash Budgets, Anchor Salaries

CNN boss

Mark Thompson is looking to fund his digital-first transformation by cutting anchor salaries — currently more than $50 million — as he seeks to remake the ailing cable network into a U.S. version of the BBC, media observers and former CNN executives have told TheWrap.

Thompson, the former head of the BBC and The New York Times, has said he wants to unleash a “revolution” at the 43-year-old news network, and will not spare the network’s formidable talent roster.

Top CNN earners include prime-time anchor Anderson Cooper, who makes an estimated $20 million a year; Wolf Blitzer, who earns about $15 million; Jake Tapper, who pulls in more than $8.5 million; and Chris Wallace, who makes about $8 million, two insiders said. Other co-anchors, including John Berman, Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner, make in the $1 million to $2 million range, a third executive with knowledge of salaries told TheWrap.

Thompson has indicated in a staff memo he is looking to trim production costs “that now look difficult to support,” which media experts and former staffers say is likely to mean cuts to at least some of those big salaries. But contracts for some of the biggest stars, including Cooper and Tapper, are not due to expire until after the presidential election — at the end of 2025 or 2026, according to two people familiar with the situation.