CNN boss Mark Thompson told staffers Wednesday that he’s hoping to remain at the network and be “useful” to his new bosses once Paramount completes its takeover of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, The Post has learned.
Thompson addressed CNN employees Wednesday during a quarterly townhall meeting, which started just after 11 a.m. and ended around 12:25 p.m., to talk about the state of the business and the editorial direction.
But the news boss tackled the elephant in the room — namely what might happen to CNN now that Paramount is on track to complete its takeover of its parent company.
A CNN source said Thompson told staffers that he “remained very committted to CNN” and wants to stay at the company if he can be “useful” to his “new bosses.”
The exec admitted that he didn’t know what the David Ellison-led Paramount wanted to do with CNN and that he hadn’t heard about his role at the merged company.
Thompson also gave a broad overview of the basic facts of the merger, along with Chief Financial Officer Adam Cohn, who provided a standard update on the State of the Business,” an insider added.
A network source also noted that Thompson touched on its lawsuit in conjunction with MS Now and Politico against Trump administration after it revoked their press credentials and banned their reporters from White House grounds.
Later, during the Q&A portion of meeting, Thompson tried to calm anxious staffers, who pressed the boss further about the merger.
He told them not to jump to conclusions about Ellison’s plans or speculate about them because he doesn’t yet know either.
“I feel bad for Mark,” said one staffer. “He’s as in the dark as all of us.”
The person added that employees were getting “upset” towards the end of the meeting because Thompson wasn’t “being more direct.”
CNN did not comment.
CNN staffers have been in panic mode since Paramount settled an antitrust suit with California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Monday — clearing the way for a merged media giant that will operate both CBS News and CNN, in addition to Hollywood studios Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., streaming services HBO Max and Paramount+.
Sources told The Post earlier this week that CNN employees are worried over the inevitable bloodbath that will come once the deal is closed in the coming weeks.
Paramount has said it sees at least $6 billion in cost savings, which would translate to several thousand jobs lost in the months ahead.
Aside from woes over job losses, CNN staffers are looking at how CBS News has changed under Ellison’s stewardship, pointing to the overhaul of the network under news boss Bari Weiss.
Several sources recently expressed fear over how Weiss “blew up” CBS News’ top rated show, “60 Minutes,” by firing Scott Pelley and other correspondents, along with slew of senior producers, and feared that she would have oversight of CNN down the road.
Although Ellison has not made any public statements about the leadership structure of CNN, there has been much speculation that Weiss, who is the Editor-in-Chief of CBS News, could oversee CNN as well.
Other sources close to Ellison have thrown water on that notion, telling The Post that the exec is not considering that option.
