After a splashy debut, CNN’s new corporate owners are attempting to shut down the new streaming service.
Warner Bros. Discovery has decided to shut down CNN+, the much-hyped streaming service that had been portrayed as CNN’s daring digital future, in a surprising turnabout for one of the world’s most prestigious television news organizations.
CNN+ will shut down on April 30, the firm announced on Thursday.
In a memo, Chris Licht, CNN’s new president, stated, “While today’s decision is very tough, it is the correct one for the long-term future of CNN.” “It allows us to refocus resources on the essential products that drive our primary focus: improving CNN’s journalism and reputation as a global news leader,” says the company.
The closure is a stunning and humiliating end to an operation that CNN had poured tens of millions of dollars into, from a nationwide marketing campaign to the hiring of hundreds of new employees to the recruitment of big-name media stars like former “Fox News Sunday” anchor Chris Wallace and former NPR co-host Audie Cornish.
CNN’s chief digital officer and a key architect of the network’s streaming strategy, Andrew Morse, will also step down.
Mr. Licht informed key players at CNN+ only hours before announcing the decision in a noon town hall, and many rank-and-file employees learned of the platform’s demise through news reports on social media.
