For months, CBS News staffers have been on edge waiting for a long-expected round of layoffs as part of the $2bn in cost-cutting that had been promised after parent company Paramount’s successful merger with Skydance Media.
Those cuts began on Wednesday morning and are expected to affect a significant number of news division employees, though probably fewer than 100 people. The company declined to provide a specific number.
One concerned CBS News staffer who was not authorized to comment described the process as “nerve-racking”. “Seems no one is safe,” the person added.
As part of the cuts, the network has closed its Johannesburg bureau and is cancelling its CBS Mornings Plus and CBS Evening News Plus streaming shows. The network’s Saturday morning program will undergo a format change, according to a source with knowledge of the changes who was not authorized to comment.
Overall, Paramount will lay off about 1,000 staffers on Wednesday, part of a longer-term plan that would double that number of cuts.
David Ellison, the chief executive of Paramount Skydance, announced the cuts in a memo to all staff on Wednesday morning.
“In some areas, we are addressing redundancies that have emerged across the organization,” he wrote. “In others, we are phasing out roles that are no longer aligned with our evolving priorities and the new structure designed to strengthen our focus on growth. Ultimately, these steps are necessary to position Paramount for long-term success.”
The cuts are expected to be one of the larger rounds of layoffs in recent memory at CBS News. The most recent round of significant layoffs came in May 2020, during the early months of the pandemic, when approximately 50 staffers were affected during the leadership of the then CBS News president, Susan Zirinsky.
Puck’s Dylan Byers first reported that “nearly 100” CBS News staffers would be cut on Wednesday.
The layoffs were planned before the appointment of Bari Weiss as the network’s editor in chief, so it is unclear what role she might play in the process. Weiss briefly addressed the cuts at the top of the network’s editorial meeting on Wednesday, saying it would be an “enormously difficult day” at the network.
“This is just an enormously difficult day for so many people that have given years of their lives to this company, and I’m sorry, and want to support everyone in whatever way I can,” Weiss said, according to a recording of her remarks reviewed by the Guardian. Weiss further told staff that her “door is open”.
On Monday, one of the network’s most long-serving and decorated journalists, John Dickerson, announced that he would be leaving at the end of the year, signaling a coming overhaul of the network’s struggling CBS Evening News program. The network’s head of standards, Claudia Milne, also recently departed the network.
In his memo, Ellison thanked the employees who will be laid off.
“We are deeply grateful for your hard work, professionalism, and resilience during this period of transition,” he wrote. “We remain confident that Paramount’s best days are ahead, and we’re committed to building a strong foundation for the future.”
