Acosta is the first big name to exit CNN in the changes being implemented by CEO Mark Thompson. Thompson last week also told staff that the company intends to lay off a couple hundred employees in a pivot to digital, with a new streaming service in the works.

CNN had kind words to say about Jim Acosta amid his exit from the network. Jim had his last morning show on Tuesday, Jan. 28 and officially announced he was leaving CNN. The journalist had been on CNN since 2007 and stated that he decided to depart "after giving all of this some careful consideration and weighing an alternative time-slot CNN offered.

The network is moving Wolf Blitzer, a well-known CNN anchor, into his time slot, along with a co-anchor, Pamela Brown. Mr. Acosta’s show is third place in his time slot for total viewers, behind both MSNBC and Fox News, though he has outperformed his MSNBC competitor in the key demographic for advertisers.