Can’t say I’m terribly surprised. CNN isn’t exactly a premium product anymore. Their reputation for gold standard rolling news has diminished thanks to their never-ending love of just having a panel of political “experts” on to talk about any issue. Why anyone would want to subscribe to MORE of that is beyond me.
CNN need to shift their focus back onto their actual bread and butter, which is their 24 hour news channels. More news bulletins, less opinion segments/panels of experts and a heavier focus on global issues. Plus, restore CNNI to its former status as a rolling news station and quit dumping international bulletins for US domestic opinion shows. They have Chris Wallace - put him on a Sunday morning show or utilise him for big domestic political stories. There is a lot they could do to turn CNN around.
Most importantly, they need to get out of the habits they formed during the Trump era. That style of presenting was great for a time when scandal was a daily occurrence - it really doesn’t work now though. Having a “panel of experts” on to talk about Ukraine is a cop out when they could be crossing to their reporters on the ground there.
why could i pay for CNN+ when there are services like flash, that have multiple news outlets on it? the days of a 1 channel subscription service, unless for sport is over (i’,m thinking of MLB tv and WWE Network). there’s only so much money going around
MSNBC might be good for media spy nerds - but it’s not the kind of content that will drive subs of flash and make the service a success.
Flash needs more original sky news content - as well as exclusive content / deals from ABC, 7, 9, SMH, The age etc. It needs mass appeal news that people want. Not niche US political news.
MSNBC has almost zero appeal in Australia. Its not what will remotely move the dial for Flash.
News Corp will be discussing the future of Flash now CNN+ has folded so fast I wouild imagine. It will spook them.
Pretty extraordinary demise. Feel sorry for all the behind the scenes staff.
Wonder if they’ll move Chris Wallace or Kasie Hunt to the vacant 9pm hour on CNN.
Reckon they might also keep ‘5 things’ for cnn.com
So sad for CNN however it was doomed as they announced it before their corporate merger with Warner/Discovery and Warner/Discovery didn’t want a separate streaming service for CNN at all! But putting that bit aside, with the streaming market absolutely saturated its a warning for the other ‘big’ media and content conglomerates of the real world economics and feasibility. With Netflix losing customers for the first time in 10 years, there will be a natural correction in the market and no doubt more streaming closures or merges in the future.
Pretty much the gist of what I got from that article above.
It seems a little daft that they went ahead with it as late as this when they would have known the merger would’ve been completed pretty much imminently, and with the CEO to have come from Discovery and not WarnerMedia (although at the time this might not have been finalised, they would’ve had a fair inkling) who likely has a different idea about CNN’s place in the world to AT&T and Ted Turner before them.
It would have been at least nine months of prep down the drain - but that’s television I guess. Bit of a lose-lose proposition for CNN either way though, particularly morale wise. Maybe they’ll find some spots for some of the content on what whatever streaming service they end up with (I’m assuming it’s a fait accompli that HBO Max and Discovery+ will be amalgamated at some point, which probably doomed CNN+ even more) but rolling news may be a hard fit for that.
Seems a lot of the content being made will be used elsewhere across assets, they’re just simplifying their SVOD offerings in the market and they realise now (albeit an expensive exercise) that there was little appetite for CNN+.
Axios, a reputed, short-form news and analysis website, known for its exclusives and scoops, published a lengthy analysis by its media specialist on the fall of CNN+, including reports on their staff, which are suffering from the news, and reporting that half of the CNN+ staff will be laid off with a short-term 3-month pay and up to six months of severance; the rest will move to either the CNN core newsroom or to HBO Max.
As many of you have thought, most CNN+ shows are being shopped elsewhere to other CNN properties (and not being outright dropped, as many other media and entertainment insider outlets said). For example, the Interview Club and the daily short form programming (like 5 Things and Go There) are likely to move (back) to the ad-supported CNN website and apps, with soft news, talkers and the Original Series moving to the new HBO Max. Additionally, she’s reporting that Chris Wallace’s show will be one of the key elements of CNN’s new prime time line-up, which will be led by the straightforward 9pm news hour, as reported by them; he will also have an increased role in the linear network’s programming:
Shocking news coming on the CNNI fold. Hala Gorani has left CNN to concentrate in personal projects, as she announced on her Instagram story. Additionally, this is really ill-timed, given the recent Warner Bros. Discovery merger. Will keep updating this post as it happens.
