CNN’s Sister Network HLN to Stop Airing Live Programming

Gerry Smith, Bloomberg News

Host of "Morning Express" Robin Meade, Host of "Michaela" Michaela Pereira, new HLN host Erica Hill and VP of HLN Programming, Stephanie Todd speak onstage during the 'Live from NY, LA & Atlanta' panel at the TCA Turner Summer Press Tour 2016 Presentation at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on July 31, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California , Photographer: Charley Gallay/Getty Images

(Bloomberg) -- Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. is ending live programming on CNN’s sister channel HLN, the latest cost-cutting move aimed at reducing the company’s debt.

Starting Dec. 6, HLN, once known as Headline News, will simulcast the new CNN morning show hosted by Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow, and Kaitlan Collins in place of its current morning news program.

HLN also aired true-crime shows through much of the day. While its live programming will go away, the staff will join forces with the company’s ID network and develop or acquire true-crime programming for both channels, according to a person familiar with the matter.

In a memo to staff Thursday, CNN chief Chris Licht also said CNN will cut an undisclosed number of jobs in programming and marketing and, in some cases, merge teams for daytime and weekend shows. CNN’s US newsroom is laying off some staff and also adding new roles to cover the country more broadly, he said.

“The changes we are making today are necessary and will make us stronger and better positioned to place big bets going forward without fear of failure,” Licht wrote.

The newsletter Puck reported on the changes at HLN earlier Thursday.

(Updates with management memo in third paragraph.)

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