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Art of Patience, Heavily-Armed Forces, and Losing Huge Salaries
18 Seemingly Harmless Habits That Negatively Impact Your Business
Marketing Rebels
February 16, 2024
Good morning. It's Friday, Feb. 16, and we're covering how CNN hosts lose huge salaries, heavily-armed forces descend on Venezuelan ambassador's DC Residence, random NFL games that dominate the most-watched TV list, and much more. First time reading? Sign up here.
American Fact of the Day!
Corn-a-Plenty: Indiana produces more than 20% of the United States’ popcorn supply. In a typical year, almost half of all cropland in Indiana is planted in corn.
Breaking Updates
CNN's Star Anchors May Be About to Lose Their Huge Salaries
CNN's leadership is preparing an aggressive cost-cutting operation that will involve slashing the salaries of some of its most prominent anchors, according to an exclusive report from The Wrap.
CEO Mark Thompson is said to be planning a "revolution" at the news network, which will involve a range of budget cuts, including slashing some of its largest salaries. CNN's top earners include prime-time anchor Anderson Cooper, who pulls in a cool $20 million a year; Wolf Blitzer, who earns around $15 million; Jake Tapper, who is paid more than $8.5 million; and Chris Wallace, who makes about $8 million.
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 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.
The company's revenue issue is mainly a result of its poor ratings, which trail significantly behind the likes of Fox and MSNBC and have never recovered from their heights during the Trump presidency.
Read more updates here
Reports Claim Heavily-Armed Forces Descended on Venezuelan Ambassador's DC Residence, Reasons Unclear
Reports are emerging indicating that the Venezuelan Ambassador's residence in Washington D.C. may have been raided Thursday evening by the FBI and United States Secret Service officers. However, other outlets are saying that the response was due to a trespasser.
Mazza wrote: FBI and United States Secret Service officers have raided the Venezuelan Ambassador's Residence in Washington, DC on February 15, 2024. Heavy police activity could be seen in the area and FBI agents had raid jackets on as well as long guns. At approximately 8:50 PM, agents yelled "surrender" after calling out that they were on site and "police".
Back in February 2023, the State Department took custody of the residence: The State Department took custody of Venezuela's embassy and official residences in Washington and New York after Juan Guaidó was voted out as interim president and the country was left without diplomats recognized by the US, people familiar with the matter said.
The embassy had ceased operations in January 2023. The action comes after President Nicolás Maduro’s government expelled the U.N. Human Rights Agency Thursday.
Read more updates here
