CNN’s streaming service spent $300 million in three weeks before its parent company pulled the plug
CNN’s parent company Warner Bros. The premium streaming service CNN+ has been shut down by Discovery after only three weeks. Thursday’s announcement came as a “total and utter shock”According to the employees, $300 million has been spent to recruit top media professionals, to advertise and launch, with $700 million more planned.
Variety published the news on Thursday morning. It stated that Warner Bros made the decision. David Zaslav is Discovery CEO. CNN executives had confirmed the news to their staff in New York City’s high-rise offices by noon. They stated that the service would cease operations on April 30.
It was received with enthusiasm “total and utter shock” That “morphed into despair,” an anonymous staffer told CNN’s Brian Stelter and Oliver Darcy. They were “freaking out”At first, it’s not so bad. “turned to sadness”Before you open a bottle of whiskey or wine “to commiserate.”
Officially, Zaslav wants to unite all of the company’s brands under one streaming service. CNN+ was commissioned by former WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, just weeks before Discovery acquired its parent company AT&T earlier this year.
CNN planned to invest $1 billion in the venture and hire executives, producers, and other on-air talent. CNN+ was expected to be profitable after four years. The service attracted as many as 150,000 subscribers in the first couple weeks, according to some reports – though others said a mere 10,000 people tuned in on a daily basis.
It fell on CNN’s incoming CEO Chris Licht to announce the end, telling CNN+ staff they would get paid for the next 90 days and be given opportunities to get hired elsewhere inside the company.
“It is not your fault that you had the rug pulled out from underneath you,” Licht reportedly said at the meeting on Thursday, explaining that it wasn’t about the quality of their product, but corporate strategy.
Donald Trump was a former US President and he reacted by thanking CNN+ for their decision to cease operations. “lack of ratings, or viewers in any way, shape or form”The service was called. “just one more piece of CNN and Fake News that we don’t have to bother with anymore.”
Glenn Greenwald is an independent journalist pointed outWhile news is in great demand, it was not what the audiences wanted. “establishment tripe that spreads disinformation to serve one party:”
“CNN+ had a short life – if you blinked, you missed it – but the light it cast upon the world was dull, banal and pointless, like a wisp of wind that you’re not even sure blew by,”Greenwald stated this on Twitter.
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