This Was CNN

Ouch:

Some 550 buyouts are to be offered at Time Warner’s Turner network this week, including a large number of those at CNN and HLN, which will lead to layoffs if they are not taken voluntarily, according to an individual with knowledge of the network’s plans.

The buyouts will come across the Turner division, with a couple of hundred expected at CNN and HLN, the individual said.

A CNN spokeswoman had no immediate comment.

A quarter century ago, when MTV dove deep into original programing, one critic said it has become “the MTV channel.” It wasn’t music television anymore, just another channel showing the game shows and stuff.

CNN once stood for Cable News Network, and we all watched it — starting right around the time MTV abandoned its original mission. But that was a long time ago, and somewhere along the way it became “the CNN channel.”