\n<\/p>\n
\n\tBarry Diller is weighing in on CNN and is open to buying the news organization before it\u2019s too late to salvage.<\/p>\n
\n\tDuring an appearance at The Wall Street Journal\u2019s Future of Everything Festival, Diller made the bold claim about the news network.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAbsolutely, I would do it tonight and tomorrow night,\u201d he said, according to TWSJ<\/em>. \u201cBefore they ruin it any further. Hopefully, before it\u2019s extinct, which, I mean, it\u2019s not gonna be.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tDiller added that CNN is \u201cso ripe\u201d for innovation and noted that they have invested in becoming a digital property, but he thinks it needs more investment in its on-air programming.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cSo how they do that and navigate also running the surviving businesses\u2026I don\u2019t know,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \n\tCNN is currently owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, with Paramount agreeing to buy and merge the company in an $81 billion deal. If the merger goes through, Diller noted that the cuts will be a \u201csavage process.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tDiller is familiar with restructuring and layoffs, as his Interactive Corp. (IAC) is renaming itself People Inc. and making drastic cuts.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe\u2019re transitioning the necessary staff of IAC into the corpus of People,\u201d Diller wrote in a memo to staff on April 28.\u00a0\u201cThat will significantly reduce\u00a0our overhead.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe layoffs are expected to affect several dozen corporate staffers, generating $40 million in annual run-rate cost savings, the company estimates.<\/p>\n \n\tIn the memo, Diller also said, \u201cI plan to continue to do what I have done here for years as Chairman and Senior Executive\u2014be an advisor, instigator, stimulus, and sometimes irritant to the process. \u00a0I will also continue to oversee our MGM investment.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n