Chris Licht, the new chief executive of CNN, stated in a memo that the company would end the service by April 31st. Andrew Morse is the head of CNN+. According to executives, some CNN+ programming would be absorbed by other networks. However, with 500 employees, there will be layoffs.
Licht stated in a statement to Variation that “in a complex streaming marketplace, consumers want simplicity, an all-in-service, which provides a better user experience and more value than stand alone offerings.”
At a Thursday town hall meeting, executives stated that the service’s inability show live news was a major failing. CNN+ was unable to stream CNN TV network because of agreements with satellite and cable companies.
J.B. Perrette is the head of Discovery’s streaming service. He said, “It’s a bit like The New York Times Subscription without The New York Times.”
Perette claims that Discovery discovered that CNN+ couldn’t expect to reach 1 million subscribers. Perette based his assessment on the company’s attempts to launch a news service in Poland, and by studying the trajectory of paid streaming services in America like Fox Nation.
Perrette stated, “These are the facts.” “We have learned from our painful, financial-expensive history.”
“Our goal” is to be competitive
CNN+ was founded when AT&T’s parent company was still in AT&T. Discovery, CEO David Zaslav. Other streaming-video ventures of the company include Discovery+, HBO Max and HBO.
Zaslav stated to investors that the new entity would be more frugal in its spending during the company’s February earnings call.
He said, “Together we already spent aggressively across every demos and genres.” “Now that we have the resources, it is time to be careful and judicious. We want to compete with streaming services and not win the spending war.
AT&T spent more than $100 million on CNN+ development and employed 500 people to build the service. Fox News’ Chris Wallace was hired, along with former NPR host Audie Cornish and ex-NBC News host Kasie Hunter, as well as Alison Roman, a food media star.
Perrette assured employees that they would be “first to know” about 100 open jobs at CNN. Licht’s memo stated that departing employees would be paid at least six months of severance.
Since two years ago, streaming video’s outlook has declined significantly. This was after pandemic lockdowns caused millions of Americans to increase their screen time and prompted a rise in subscriptions. This week, Netflix reported its first loss of subscribers in ten years . Analysts attribute the decline to increased competition from traditional media outlets that have launched their own streaming services.
