CNN’s new streaming service will have a short life.
The New York Times reported that Warners Bros. Discovery, the parent company of the network, decided to shut down CNN+ — which launched Mar. 29 — on April 30.
CNN’s Brian Stelter and Oliver Darcy also reported on Thursday that CNN+ will be shutting down. The two reported, “Hundreds of CNN+ staffers were notified of the decision in a meeting on Thursday afternoon.”
As The Times noted, “Under its former president, Jeff Zucker, CNN lured big stars to CNN+, including the former ‘Fox News Sunday’ anchor Chris Wallace, the former NPR co-host Audie Cornish and the food writer Alison Roman.”
“But the service’s fortunes changed abruptly after CNN’s former parent, WarnerMedia — owner of the prestige TV powerhouse HBO and the storied Warner Bros. film studio — completed its merger with Discovery, home to reality TV hits like ’90 Day Fiancé’ and the home-improvement gurus Chip and Joanna Gaines,” it continued,
The paper added, “Since the merger closed earlier this month, doubts have swirled over the future of CNN+, which was promoted to CNN employees and subscribers as the future of the network.”
just like that… Warner Bros. Discovery is shutting down @CNNplus — story coming shortly
— Todd Spangler (@xpangler) April 21, 2022
CNN+ launched in March, and early reports indicated that it was struggling to pick up viewers.
The streaming service was designed to focus on news, not entertainment, making it different from other streaming services.
Subscriptions cost $5.99 per month or $60 a year.
However, Axios reported, “Investment and projections for CNN+ are expected to be cut dramatically in response to a low adoption rate.”
It added that around $1 billion was expected to be invested in the streaming service over the course of four years, but, “Hundreds of millions of dollars are expected to be cut from that original investment total.”
Additionally, according to CNBC, the streaming service has been drawing fewer than 10,000 people per day two weeks after it launched.
Still, a CNN spokesperson told the outlet previously, “We continue to be happy with the launch and its progress after only two weeks.”
Journalist Jon Nicosia, of News Cycle Media, tweeted earlier in April that host Chris Wallace was “‘having daily breakdowns’ over the ‘miserable launch’ of [CNN+].”
“Wants a ‘CNN show or is threatening to walk’ they go on. ‘He is having staffers count how many times a day his promo is playing,’” he continued.
Finally, Nicosia wrote, “SOURCE CONT’D: ‘He’s telling anyone that will listen he wants Cuomo’s old time slot.’”
Wallace announced in Dec. 2021 he was leaving Fox News to move to CNN.