CNN’s subscription streaming service has remained on life support since its debut one month ago.
Today, Warner Bros. Discovery finally pulled the plug.
Breaking News: Warner Bros. Discovery is shutting down CNN+. The streaming service debuted just weeks ago and was meant to bring CNN into the digital future. https://t.co/vqApzdFQvY
— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 21, 2022
With only 150,000 subscribers and poor ratings, almost everyone outside CNN headquarters considered CNN+ a failure.
On Wednesday, Warner Bros. Discovery ended all external marketing for CNN+ and fired CNN’s chief financial officer. The network had hoped to make CNN+ profitable in four years with the help of a $1 billion investment.
As The New York Times reports:
The service is set to cease operations on April 30. Andrew Morse, CNN’s chief digital officer and a key architect of the streaming strategy, will step down, another person said.
Chris Licht, the incoming president of CNN, called an all-hands meeting among CNN+ staffers for noon on Thursday to share the news.
The shutdown comes just weeks after CNN+ was launched, with ambitious plans to spend heavily and expand fast. 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. 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.
CNN executives had grown increasingly frustrated in recent days by Warner Bros. Discovery’s threats to dismantle its newly-launched service, but ultimately, they couldn’t overcome its disastrous start.
Network executives hoped CNN+’s launch on Roku streaming players last week would’ve brought a subscription boost. While their hopes didn’t come to fruition, some CNN+ content may live on in CNN’s app and other subscription services managed by Warner Bros. Discovery, like HBO Max
