https://sputnikglobe.com/20220422/goodbye-cnn-we-hardly-knew-you-1094955283.html
Goodbye CNN+, We Hardly Knew You
Goodbye CNN+, We Hardly Knew You
Sputnik International
CNN has announced the closure of its newly launched streaming service CNN+, less than a month after its release. 22.04.2022, Sputnik International
2022-04-22T02:02+0000
2022-04-22T02:02+0000
2022-10-18T19:56+0000
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The news was told to staffers on Thursday by incoming CNN boss Chris Licht. The service will stop airing on April 30, according to a statement released by CNN.Customers, the few that exist, will receive a prorated refund of the app’s $5.99 subscription price. According to the statement, CNN’s new management did not feel that CNN+ fits into the vision of having all of the newly merged Warner Bros Discovery’s companies under one banner.Another likely culprit is that CNN+ has been a spectacular failure. The app reportedly cost $300 million to launch, and CNN spent an estimated $100 million to $200 million advertising it. After all that spending, CNN+ only managed to gather 150,000 subscribers.Even using the low end of that advertising estimate, that puts CNN+ customer acquisition cost, or the cost of expenses divided by the number of customers, at $2660.67 per customer, and that is after subtracting the $5.99 subscription cost.Despite that, according to Axios, who reported Tuesday that CNN+’s advertising budget had been suspended, CNN executives thought the app's launch was a successful one, and that it was the executives from Warner Bros Discovery that wanted to shut down the streaming platform.Reportedly, CNN had planned to pump $1 billion into the app in the next four years in an attempt to make it profitable.That is not the end of the discontent between the news network and its newly formed parent company. Axios also reported that Warner Bros Discovery executives were frustrated that the launch happened at all when the merger was already apparent. If CNN had waited to launch the app, then it could have been built more in line with the vision of putting all of the parent company’s properties under one roof.Furthermore, the 300 junior staffers that worked on the app’s shows are, according to a report from the New York Post, out of a job and “furious” at how all this was handled. They will be offered six months’ severance, but that is a small consolation for people who likely thought they had landed a stable gig. Additionally, an insider speaking to The Post told them that “some will get six months’ severance, others will not.”CNN+’s flagship acquisition Chris Wallace, who they signed away from Fox News for a reported $9 million a year and was intended to headline the app, will likely be moved to the cable station’s lineup. The Post says it is expected that he will take Chris Cuomo’s 9 pm time slot, though that could also go to a less expensive headline news show, according to some reports.Warner Bros Discovery owns two more popular streaming apps, Discovery+ and HBO Max. The reported plan is to eventually merge the two. Presumably content originally planned for CNN+ could be integrated into that.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20220420/white-house-holds-cnn-and-bloomberg-by-the-throat-pushing-fakes-about-russia-source-says-1094915301.html
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Goodbye CNN+, We Hardly Knew You
02:02 GMT 22.04.2022 (Updated: 19:56 GMT 18.10.2022) CNN has announced the closure of its newly launched streaming service CNN+, less than a month after its release.
The news was told to staffers on Thursday by incoming CNN boss Chris Licht. The service will stop airing on April 30, according to a statement released by CNN.
Customers, the few that exist, will receive a prorated refund of the app’s $5.99 subscription price. According to the statement, CNN’s new management did not feel that CNN+ fits into the vision of having all of the newly merged Warner Bros Discovery’s companies under one banner.
Another likely culprit is that CNN+ has been a spectacular failure. The app reportedly cost $300 million to launch, and CNN spent an estimated $100 million to $200 million advertising it. After all that spending, CNN+ only managed to gather 150,000 subscribers.
Even using the low end of that advertising estimate, that puts CNN+ customer acquisition cost, or the cost of expenses divided by the number of customers, at $2660.67 per customer, and that is after subtracting the $5.99 subscription cost.
Despite that, according to Axios, who reported Tuesday that CNN+’s advertising budget had been suspended, CNN executives thought the app's launch was a successful one, and that it was the executives from Warner Bros Discovery that wanted to shut down the streaming platform.
Reportedly, CNN had planned to pump $1 billion into the app in the next four years in an attempt to make it profitable.
That is not the end of the discontent between the news network and its newly formed parent company. Axios also reported that Warner Bros Discovery executives were frustrated that the launch happened at all when the merger was already apparent. If CNN had waited to launch the app, then it could have been built more in line with the vision of putting all of the parent company’s properties under one roof.
Furthermore, the 300 junior staffers that worked on the app’s shows are, according to a report from the New York Post, out of a job and “furious” at how all this was handled. They will be offered six months’ severance, but that is a small consolation for people who likely thought they had landed a stable gig. Additionally, an insider speaking to The Post told them that “some will get six months’ severance, others will not.”
CNN+’s flagship acquisition Chris Wallace, who they signed away from Fox News for a reported $9 million a year and was intended to headline the app, will
likely be moved to the cable station’s lineup. The Post says it is expected that he will take Chris Cuomo’s 9 pm time slot, though that could also go to a less expensive headline news show, according to some reports.
Warner Bros Discovery owns two more popular streaming apps, Discovery+ and HBO Max. The reported plan is to eventually merge the two. Presumably content originally planned for CNN+ could be integrated into that.
