The mainstream media is discovering that it’s not so easy to succeed when you can’t simply pretend that people are watching you.
CNN+, the streaming service that was hyped as one of the most significant developments in the history of CNN, will shut down on April 30, just one month after it launched.
CNN+ customers “will receive prorated refunds of subscription fees,” the company said. The decision was made by new management after CNN’s former parent company, WarnerMedia, merged with Discovery to form Warner Bros. Discovery earlier this month. The prior management team’s vision for CNN+ runs counter to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s plan to house all of the company’s brands under one streaming service. Some CNN+ programming may eventually live on through that service. Other programming will shift to CNN’s main television network…
The decision to shut down CNN+ just weeks after it launched marked a stunning end to the streaming news service. Executives had touted the application as the most significant launch since Ted Turner founded CNN in 1980.
CNN had poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the new streaming app and lured top talent from other networks for it, including Kasie Hunt from NBC and Chris Wallace from Fox News. The streaming service featured hours of daily live programming and weekly shows.
WarnerMedia also owns DC Comics, and it will not be at all surprising if the comics operation is shut down later this year, with a focus on exploiting the IP replacing the publication of any new comics that will threaten the value of the historical IP.
Fewer than 10,000 people are using CNN+ on a daily basis two weeks into its existence, according to people familiar with the matter.
More people read this blog than were using CNN+. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that UATV has more subscribers than CNN+ ever did.
