AOL Time Warner Inc.'s CNN/SI is cutting 190 jobs, the bulk of the Atlanta-based operation, as the channel prepares to morph into a sports net co-owned by the media giant and the National Basketball Association.
Sources said staffers will be
kept until the new channel launches, most likely in the fall.
The new network -- tentatively coined "AOL Sports," and to be based in either New York or
Atlanta -- is a cornerstone of a new six-year TV deal the two sides are still
hammering out.
A key challenge will be growing CNN/SI's sparse distribution, which stands at about 20 million.
"We hit distribution hurdles we didn't anticipate," CNN/SI executive vice president and general manager
Steve Robinson said. "But it was decided that a different strategy was need to acquire the distribution."
