ATLANTA — Turner Classic Movies last week was the latest target in efforts by Warner Bros. Discovery to cut costs, and its future is now in question.
Despite several ownership changes, the venerated cable network, which Ted Turner launched in 1994, has largely kept to its original mission of honoring classic movies. It’s a beloved brand by its core fans, many who attend the annual TCM Classic Film Festival, which happens in Los Angeles in April.
But last week, TCM chief and 25-year veteran Pola Changnon lost her job, followed by several of her top managers. Overall staff was slashed from 90 to just 20, according to an unnamed insider who spoke to The Wrap, though many employees’ duties have been dispersed among multiple cable networks. Changnon’s duties have been placed in the hands of Warner Bros. Pictures bosses Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy.
