CNN's leadership is preparing an aggressive cost-cutting operation that will involve slashing the salaries of some of its most prominent anchors, according to an exclusive report from The Wrap. 

CEO Mark Thompson is said to be planning a "revolution" at the news network, which will involve a range of budget cuts, including slashing some of its largest salaries.

CNN's top earners include prime-time anchor Anderson Cooper, who pulls in a cool $20 million a year; Wolf Blitzer, who earns around $15 million; Jake Tapper, who is paid more than $8.5 million; and Chris Wallace, who makes about $8 million. 

The Wrap notes: 

CNN boss Mark Thompson is looking to fund his digital-first transformation by cutting anchor salaries — currently more than $50 million — as he seeks to remake the ailing cable network into a U.S. version of the BBC, media observers and former CNN executives have told TheWrap. 

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Thompson, the former head of the BBC and The New York Times, has said he wants to unleash a “revolution” at the 43-year-old news network, and will not spare the network’s formidable talent roster. 

The report notes that Thompson is heavily influenced by his tenure at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), which is funded by a license fee rather than advertising and whose top stars are paid merely a fraction of their American counterparts. 

However, many of those anchors at CNN are tied to contracts that go well beyond this year's presidential election, as the report explains:

Thompson has indicated in a staff memo he is looking to trim production costs “that now look difficult to support,” which media experts and former staffers say is likely to mean cuts to at least some of those big salaries. But contracts for some of the biggest stars, including Cooper and Tapper, are not due to expire until after the presidential election — at the end of 2025 or 2026, according to two people familiar with the situation. 

“The first thing they need to do is dramatically reduce costs,” Rich Greenfield, a partner and media and tech analyst at LightShed Partners, told The Wrap. “If you work at CNN your compensation is going to go down dramatically over the next…five years, there’s just no other way around it.”

The company's revenue issue is mainly a result of its poor ratings, which trail significantly behind the likes of Fox and MSNBC and have never recovered from their heights during the Trump presidency.

It also failed dramatically in its attempts to generate subscription revenue, with its digital subscription service CNN+ collapsing within just a few months of its launch.

CNN's difficulties add to what has already been a devastating few months for the network, which some analysts have warned is on the brink of widespread collapse. 

Just last month, the Los Angeles Times announced that it was laying off 115 people in its newsroom amid reports that it was losing around $30 million a year. 

Last October, meanwhile, The Washington Post also confirmed that despite the backing of its billionaire owner, Jeff Bezos, the company would be cutting 240 jobs amid reports that it was on track to lose $100 million.