April 21 – Warner Bros Discovery (WBD.O) announced on Thursday that it will be shutting down its streaming news service CNN+ less than a month after its hyped launch.
The service, which has sought to capitalize on the popularity of streaming video and the growth of digital news subscriptions, will cease operations on April 30. Andrew Morse, an executive who helped develop CNN’s streaming strategy, will also leave.
“CNN will be at its strongest as part of WBD’s streaming strategy, which sees news as an important part of a compelling broader offering along with sports, entertainment and non-fiction content,” said Chris Licht, chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, in a statement . “So that’s how we made the decision to stop operating CNN+.”
The Warner Bros logo is seen during the annual MIPCOM television program market in Cannes, France October 14, 2019. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard/File Photo
Licht said CNN will focus its resources on its core news gathering operations and building CNN Digital.
CNN launched CNN+ late last month, a mix of familiar faces like Anderson Cooper and Chris Wallace, original series, and new features like the Interview Club. But it started out slow, reportedly attracting just 10,000 viewers a day.
Its debut on March 29, ahead of parent company WarnerMedia’s merger with Discovery on April 8, sparked speculation about its fate as a standalone service.
Warner Bros Discovery’s global streaming president, JB Perrette, said in a statement that the CNN brand and its content will be part of a broader streaming offering. The company also operates HBO Max and Discovery+, two services the company says it plans to combine.
Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles and Eva Mathews in Bengaluru Editing by Andrea Ricci and Mark Potter