CNN to launch CNN+

[TheRob 922]

New Coke lasted longer.

 

I feel badly for the employees; I know one who hopped from one Atlanta-based media outlet to produce for CNN+. Maybe she can get her old job back. I don't know.

 

 

[Action Newsroom 1180]

25 minutes ago, Spring Rubber said:

The fact that the article said that the CNN+ employees will be paid for 90 days and given the opportunity to explore other positions in the company...seems to imply that all of the programming will be cancelled rather than moved to another platform? Unless I'm reading into this too much.

Either way; that's why I said it'll probably happen. Terrible that those employees might lose their jobs soon though.

[mre29 1401]

Wow. That was faster than I expected.

 

It'll be interesting to see where the shows (both new and catalog) end up. I could see most of HLN's shows moving to Discovery+, for example.

 

[NYTV 109]

39 minutes ago, Action Newsroom said:

Either way; that's why I said it'll probably happen. Terrible that those employees might lose their jobs soon though.

Honestly, they should just move any remaining programming to HLN to bolster that channel's programming

 

[Newsjunkie24 505]

In all honesty, CNN+ should've launched as a hub on HBO Max, instead of launching a service that was only going to serve a small niche.

 

Chris Wallace will likely become a regular on the linear CNN, maybe host the 9 P.M. hard newcast that might launch. Kasie Hunt might host an hour of CNN Newsroom, and Rex Chapman will probably go back to posting viral videos on Twitter and launch his ill-fated show on a different platform. I bet Anthony Bourdain and all the library programming move back over to HBO Max.

[Action Newsroom 1180]

31 minutes ago, NYTV said:

Honestly, they should just move any remaining programming to HLN to bolster that channel's programming

Honestly I'd rather they just not. Just look at their last attempts to bolster programming (... if you can remember them). 

[CLETVFan 364]

Here is what TVLine is reporting on CNN+ shutting down.  I didn't expect that service to end so soon.  I have a feeling HBO Max will pick up the original programming from CNN+.

 

https://tvline.com/2022/04/21/cnn-plus-shutting-down-streaming-service-folding/

Plus, I saw in Variety that a show with Jemele Hill and Cari Champion had yet to launch on CNN+.  

[MorningNews 1347]

Am I missing something here? I can’t think of many (Disney+ might be the only one) that had immediate success out of the gate. Is there some behind the scenes drama that made them shut this thing down this quickly?

[Jase 895]

33 minutes ago, MorningNews said:

Am I missing something here? I can’t think of many (Disney+ might be the only one) that had immediate success out of the gate. Is there some behind the scenes drama that made them shut this thing down this quickly?

I think it comes down to CNN+ not aligning with what WBD wants to do regarding streaming. As difficult a decision this is, there’s no point in wasting more money and resources on it.
 

It’s going to be difficult enough trying to combine HBOMax and Discovery+ that I can understand them not wanting to add CNN+ to the mix.

 

 

[freelanceproducer 158]

6 minutes ago, jase said:

I think it comes down to CNN+ not aligning with what WBD wants to do regarding streaming. As difficult a decision this is, there’s no point in wasting more money and resources on it.
 

It’s going to be difficult enough trying to combine HBOMax and Discovery+ that I can understand them not wanting to add CNN+ to the mix.

 

 

 

It has a lot to do with this, I am more than willing to bet. I don't think it is any secret that Discovery executives didn't want WarnerMedia to launch this before the merger went through. Yet, they did it anyways... weeks before the merger. 

 

I would argue its more of a FU than anything. Most of the evergreen content will likely make an appearance on whatever the combo of HBOMax and Discovery+ becomes. 

[Sendir 192]

52 minutes ago, MorningNews said:

Am I missing something here? I can’t think of many (Disney+ might be the only one) that had immediate success out of the gate. Is there some behind the scenes drama that made them shut this thing down this quickly?

The merger stated they had to save $3B out of their operating budget. They also believe in bundling. Which, I do as well. CNN will be available soon enough on those streaming devices but another CNN+ added to the bundle isn’t going to happen. The cheapest place to make cuts is News.

[tyrannical bastard 3675]

You know that CNN is screwed up when this an actual quote from one of their OWN articles, coming from the new CEO himself...

 

Licht bluntly told employees it was a “uniquely shitty situation.”

[mrschimpf 2184]

1 hour ago, Sendir said:

CNN will be available soon enough on those streaming devices but another CNN+ added to the bundle isn’t going to happen. The cheapest place to make cuts is News.

I really hope it'll be on pundits and overpaid on-air'ers more than off-air staff and bureau folks. In the last few years they've seemed to forget the actual correspondents whose goal is just to report news and not have their contributions set-up Don Lemon moderating more culture war/political nonsense. There's no excuse as to why Christiane Amanpour's daily show for PBS doesn't get any CNN US exposure on the network, even late at night.

[mre29 1401]

3 hours ago, mrschimpf said:

There's no excuse as to why Christiane Amanpour's daily show for PBS doesn't get any CNN US exposure on the network, even late at night.

 

Sure there is:  It's a PBS show.

 

 

[Drew 147]

Surprised they don't move some shows over to HLN but I wonder if HLN isn't long for this world either.  I wouldn't be surprised if Kasie Hunt's show takes over an hour of Newsroom. Chris Wallace and other CNN+ shows take over 9pm hour  Mon-Sat and have one slotted a different day each week. I doubt they would do Sundays since that's usually the 2 hour documentary. The Don Lemon Show to take over second hour of his 2 hour show on Fridays. 

[Newsjunkie24 505]

It looks like Chris Wallace's interview show may move to the linear CNN feed. It's not known if it will still be daily or a weekly show. It'd be great having an interview show on CNN again since Larry King was popular for years on the network. This is according to Bloomberg.

 

They also report that the move CNN+ programming to the linear channel or the network's website.

 

They would've been off moving this to a FAST channel like most other news channels have been doing for streaming.  

[nycnewsjunkie 1427]

2 hours ago, mre29 said:

 

Sure there is:  It's a PBS show.

 

 

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe “Amanpour & Company” is a PBS show, and that program is also produced by CNN. “Amanpour” is a CNN Int’l show, and is not seen on the domestic channel as far as I know. Come to think of it, I’d love to see some CNN Int’l shows on a revamped CNN. It would actually resemble a proper news network.

[froyo49 229]

I commend them for trying to expand into the streaming world, but trying to charge people for what are essentially video podcasts was the wrong approach. They should've made the shows free with ads and maybe a paid ad-free option. Cord-cutters don't like extra paid subscriptions, so you have to meet them where they're at. For example, for people who like in-depth interviews, there are many podcasters and YouTubers who are good at them, and many of them are free to watch. Or for those who just want a fast-paced headlines show, CNN already produces five episodes a day of their "5 things" audio podcast for free, so why would someone pay for a video version? By putting everything behind a paywall, they hampered their own chances at success. Or, they just could've emulated the successful streaming news channels that CBS, ABC, and NBC have (which are all essentially based on CNN2/HLN's original format).

 

I think it's very embarrassing that after spending hundreds of millions and framing it as an integral part of CNN's future, it only lasted a month. However, I also feel bad for the employees who worked hard to launch it. To cut their losses, I hope a number of the shows will move to the cable channel or HBO Max/Discovery+. I doubt they'll show up on HLN though. I think they would rather rename it "Investigation Discovery 2" before trying to build out their news offerings again. 

[TVNewsLover 738]

What would a combined Discovery+/HBO Max be called? Warner+?

[Rusty Muck 4356]

12 hours ago, mre29 said:

 

Sure there is:  It's a PBS show.

 

 

Bloomberg TV produced and first-carried Charlie Rose’s PBS show for years, so there’s precedent. 

[Georgie56 3176]

13 minutes ago, Myron Falwell said:

Bloomberg TV produced and first-carried Charlie Rose’s PBS show for years, so there’s precedent. 

 

Not to mention CNBC took over production of Nightly Business Report in 2013 until the show's end in 2019.

[mre29 1401]

2 hours ago, Myron Falwell said:

Bloomberg TV produced and first-carried Charlie Rose’s PBS show for years, so there’s precedent. 

 

Annnnnd this is where I confess that I honestly didn't know that Amanpour's show was produced by CNN.   Sorry about that.

 

[Newsjunkie24 505]

14 hours ago, froyo49 said:

I commend them for trying to expand into the streaming world, but trying to charge people for what are essentially video podcasts was the wrong approach. They should've made the shows free with ads and maybe a paid ad-free option. Cord-cutters don't like extra paid subscriptions, so you have to meet them where they're at. For example, for people who like in-depth interviews, there are many podcasters and YouTubers who are good at them, and many of them are free to watch. Or for those who just want a fast-paced headlines show, CNN already produces five episodes a day of their "5 things" audio podcast for free, so why would someone pay for a video version? By putting everything behind a paywall, they hampered their own chances at success. Or, they just could've emulated the successful streaming news channels that CBS, ABC, and NBC have (which are all essentially based on CNN2/HLN's original format).

 

I think it's very embarrassing that after spending hundreds of millions and framing it as an integral part of CNN's future, it only lasted a month. However, I also feel bad for the employees who worked hard to launch it. To cut their losses, I hope a number of the shows will move to the cable channel or HBO Max/Discovery+. I doubt they'll show up on HLN though. I think they would rather rename it "Investigation Discovery 2" before trying to build out their news offerings again. 

 

Very spot-on. They could've done so much better in how to run the service. 

[MediaZone4K 1787]

I wanted to say that this sets a precedent that the masses wont pay for a news streaming service. Fox Nation however, journalistic quality aside, has been around for quite some time now. 

 

I think Fox Nation works because -- as an FNC anchor argued --- one can get the same political viewpoint on multiple other networks so why pay for CNN+. It's more of the same. FNC is the sole *main stream* tv network that provides a conservative journalistic viewpoint. (Newsmax and OAN aren't as well known). Accordingly, it maskes sense that a right leaning news streaming service would attract an audience.

[Geoffrey 792]

On 4/22/2022 at 9:38 PM, iron_lion said:

I wanted to say that this sets a precedent that the masses wont pay for a news streaming service. Fox Nation however, journalistic quality aside, has been around for quite some time now.

 

Important correction: Fox Nation is not news.