CNN+ is already preparing to close its doors, after 32 days of operation, for failing to attract users
Just three weeks after the service launched, Warner Bros. Discovery announces the closure of CNN+. The service will close all operations on April 30, according to several concurring reports. In other words, this one will have lived only 32 small days.
CNN+ is already preparing to close its doors
CNBC reported last week that CNN+ was already attracting just 10,000 daily users, users willing to shell out the $6 per month required to enjoy exclusive live broadcasts as well as various on-demand and/or interactive programs around the world. news. CNN’s new president, Chris Licht, who was named after the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery earlier this month, has reportedly already recommended CNN+ shut down several times.
Andrew Morse, the executive vice president who ran CNN+, is expected to leave Warner Bros. Discovery after a transition period. The report also suggests there could be hundreds of layoffs as a result of the shutdown.
failing to attract users
Select CNN+ programs can be found on HBO Max. CNN itself had also specified that the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav wants to combine the company’s content into a single streaming service. This would make perfect sense with the planned merger between HBO Max and Discovery+.
CNN had high hopes for this project. She had invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the streaming service and recruited talent from other networks, such as NBC’s Kasie Hunt and Globe Live Media’ Chris Wallace, to host CNN+ programs. That being said, the management of Warner Bros. Discovery had quickly stopped the charges when it found that CNN+ was failing to attract users.
For what it’s worth, CNN+ failed in an even harder way perhaps than Quibi. The short video streaming service launched in April 2020 had closed in December of the same year. Warner Bros. Discovery may be able to find some comfort in the fact that Quibi had “wasted” almost $2 billion compared to “just” a few hundred million dollars for CNN+.