Inside the Divide at CNN en Español: ‘The End of the Network as We Know It’
The corporate sword has fallen on CNN en Español, as a major reorganization at the cable news network brought layoffs and uncertainty for those who remain — and a mourning for the ambitious project that once sought to tap a Spanish-speaking audience in the hundreds of millions “from Alaska to Patagonia,” as CNN executives once said, including the fast-growing Hispanic population in the United States.
“[The layoffs were] basically the end of the network as we know it,” one CNN en Español staffer told TheWrap when the news first broke May 25.
It’s “ridiculous given the demographics in the U.S.A. that they couldn’t make a viable product for that marketplace,” that person added.
But CNN CEO Chris Licht has stated he saved CNN en Español as a cable channel, and individuals close to the decision said Warner Bros. Discovery is making moves to ensure the Spanish-language network’s future. The company plans to move the bulk of CNNEE’s efforts to Mexico City — the capital of the world’s largest Spanish-speaking country — while scaling back production of programming for linear television and investing more in content for younger audiences who consume news on mobile devices.
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This marks the latest effort from CNN to shift its Spanish-language strategy toward finding new audiences. The news channel, owned by CNN Global, first launched on pay television in March 1997, with production centers in Argentina, Mexico and even Cuba, with the goal of providing a Spanish-language news service to audiences in the U.S. and Latin America. The network shifted focus toward growing its foothold with U.S. audiences in 2010, as Cynthia Darr Hudson joined leadership as senior vice president and general manager of the network.
“We started this network very much focused on Latin America, and that remains a priority market for us,” Tony Maddox, then executive vice president and managing director of CNN International, told the New York Times in 2011. “[It’s] clear that the Hispanic population of the United States is growing, and growing at a rapid rate, and that it is a market underserved by the kind of news service we can provide.”
Maddox told the outlet that CNNEE’s transformation was “one of most significant investments CNN made” in that time, “the largest since launch.”
But a dozen years since that corporate gamble, largely focused on reimagining the linear product around magazine-style shows, CNN en Español now faces a new period of change, this time focused on reaching digital audiences around the world.
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The latest transformation led to cutting dozens of jobs across the U.S. in favor of more presence at CNN’s Mexico City bureau. Insiders told TheWrap that CNNEE will continue to have a presence in the company’s Miami and Atlanta bureaus (The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported the Atlanta bureau will be reduced from about 80 to seven positions), and will remain the home bases for the newsroom’s leadership team, with plans to create 55 jobs in Mexico City.
But for the staffers who spoke to TheWrap, the writing was on the wall for CNN en Español’s cable presence.
“I’m told only two live shows will survive and all else will be taped and lots of Discovery en Español content,” the staffer told TheWrap, referring to the more-watched sister channel that became part of CNN’s corporate family with the WarnerMedia-Discovery merger last year. “Going forward, rumors are that another shoe will drop and that the TV network will close down entirely by year’s end, leaving only digital.”
But other insiders said the plan to kill CNNEE’s little-watched linear channel came from prior leadership and Licht plans to keep the operation going with a bigger focus on its digital presence. Those individuals also told TheWrap CNNEE is planning to set up a new studio at the Mexico City bureau, while retaining a studio in Miami.
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Not everyone feels like Licht is up for the job of saving CNNEE, on top of all the other challenges he faces.
“The inevitable decimation of CNN en Español is just another indication that the task at hand was underestimated by Warner Bros. Discovery, and [its CEO David Zaslav] overestimated the guy he chose to take it on,” another network insider told TheWrap. “Chris Licht doesn’t care about CNNEE because he doesn’t understand its importance in Latin America.”
That person noted that “CNN is still run by a white guy, whereas many of the top news divisions across media have diversified their chiefs with POC.”
It’s true that leadership at other cable and news media operations have become more diverse, including NBCUniversal News chairman Cesar Conde, CBS News president Neeraj Khemlani and ABC News president Kimberly Goodwin, among others.
Individuals with knowledge of the plans for CNNEE noted that its digital audience has grown by 20% since 2019. A spokesperson for CNN told TheWrap that CNNEE’s digital efforts reach about 22 million-23 million unique users a month globally.
Compare that to the linear ratings, according to Nielsen: CNN en Español was down year over year in ratings across the board. Primetime viewers sank from 15,000 in May 2022 to 6,000 in May 2023.
After the reorganization, CNNEE will have a presence around Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Atlanta and Miami, along with correspondents across the U.S. and worldwide.
In a memo to staff on May 25, Hudson wrote that CNNEE “will be streamlining our linear news output, shifting production to our Mexico City bureau and introducing new cross-platform programming. We will also be investing in CNNE’s digital platform, safeguarding CNNEE’s newsgathering strength in the U.S. and utilizing our network-wide investments in content management to create a greatly enhanced digital user experience.”
While CNN en Español has endured a decline in viewership, a reality for all linear television and cable news media, and its future has been on shaky ground for years, the network received a vote of confidence from Licht during a company town hall in November.
“There have been a lot of questions about its location, and frankly, CNNEE as a brand. I did not agree with CNN’s previous plans to shut down CNNEE’s linear network, so I’ve changed that strategy to ensure that CNNEE can thrive in the future,” Licht said at the time. “I believe in CNNEE and, more broadly, our presence in [Latin America]. And I know we can be an even bigger player in the region.”
Sharon Waxman, Joseph Kapsch and Loree Seitz contributed to this story.
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