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Longtime CNN Superstar On The Chopping Block As Network Eyes Cuts

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One of the biggest names in cable news may finally be on the chopping block at CNN as executives game out how to keep the network profitable amid plummeting ratings and revenue.

After nearly 24 years, Anderson Cooper’s tenure at CNN may be coming to an end, insiders have reported, as his job is reportedly in jeopardy amid another round of cost-cutting.

Dylan Byers with Puck News first reported that Cooper, one of CNN’s highest-paid stars, no longer shines with the same sheen since his glory days under Jeff Zucker. The veteran reporter has witnessed CNN’s demise into its current era, where CEO Mark Thompson is looking under every couch cushion to find what little savings may be had.

Cooper commands a massive $18 million annual salary that’s difficult to justify, especially after some of his equally well-known colleagues at CNN have either departed or seen their salaries slashed to fractions of what they once earned. The change is believed to be spearheaded by Gunnar Wiedenfels, chief financial officer for parent company Warner Bros.

Much of the savings is targeted for areas such as on-air compensation, expansive overseas bureaus, and special events coverage that has traditionally spared no expense.

Byers also reported that Erin Burnett, another notable talent whose $3 million salary is far less glamorous, is likely safe for now, according to sources.

“There will be a transitional period where CNN will hold on to a few bold-faced names through their contracts,” Byers explained. “My guess is Erin falls into that camp.”

Staffers in CNN’s New York studios and Atlanta headquarters are trembling over what the changes mean for their career prospects, the veteran journalist goes on.

“CNN will begin to look more like HLN: smaller salaries, smaller budgets, less ambitious programming,” he wrote.

Theories about Cooper’s departure from CNN first began to take shape after news broke that he signed an agency agreement with CAA, which represents some of the biggest names in network TV. The move signaled that Cooper may be readying to jump ship rather than be forced to walk the plank, the Daily Mail reports.

The demise of a network he helped build into a household brand appears to be weighing on Cooper, Byers explained. He is reportedly tired of the sagging ratings, internal feuding, and tearful goodbyes to longtime colleagues being pushed out the door.

Other staffers close to the turmoil described the atmosphere in the studio as “grim,” while others expressed their lack of trust in leadership to do what’s right by the on- and off-screen staffers who have worked there for decades.

Wiedenfels, known as a no-nonsense cost-cutter in the television industry, is working to spin off CNN into a new cable division packed with reality-based programming, including HGTV, TBS, TNT, and the Food Network.

Inside CNN, staffers have begun referring to the new amalgam as “Sh*t Co.”

Despite their leaks to the press, no member of CNN is being spared from Wiedenfels’s mission to wring profitability out of the struggling cable news giant.

“Anchors raking in millions of dollars per year have targets on their backs,” another insider told Status.

Others blamed David Zaslav, the Warner Bros. CEO who orchestrated the spinoff.

“He killed it,” another source told the outlet. “The last few years under Zas has been a disaster.”