Headline Roundup • April 21st, 2022
CNN+ to Shut Down Weeks After Launch
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Warner Bros. Discovery will shut down CNN+, the popular news network’s recently-launched streaming service, on April 30, the company announced Thursday.
CNN+ was launched on March 29 and accumulated roughly 150,000 subscribers, Axios (Center bias) reported. Incoming CNN (Left bias) CEO Chris Licht told CNN+ staffers they would “continue to be paid and receive benefits for the next 90 days,” and those who were not absorbed into other parts of Warner Bros. would receive at least six months of severance.
Coverage was widespread across the spectrum on Thursday, in mainstream outlets as well as smaller tech and business outlets. Coverage across the spectrum described CNN+’s shutdown as “remarkably fast” and “a remarkable turnabout.” Fox News (Right bias) featured the story on its homepage with an image of a gravestone surrounded by the ghosts of former Fox News host Chris Wallace and other CNN personalities. Several outlets noted that Variety (Center bias) first reported the story.
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CNN
CNN+, the streaming service that was hyped as one of the most significant developments in the history of CNN, will shut down on April 30, just one month after it launched.
CNN+ customers "will receive prorated refunds of subscription fees," the company said.
The decision was made by new management after CNN's former parent company, WarnerMedia, merged with Discovery to form Warner Bros. Discovery earlier this month.
The prior management team's vision for CNN+ runs counter to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav's plan to house all of the company's...
Cheyne Gateley/VIP+; Adobe Stock
Warner Bros. Discovery is shutting down CNN+ as of April 30, marking one of the company’s first significant maneuvers since completing the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery less than two weeks ago.
The decision puts an abrupt end to an ambitious and aggressive venture that people familiar with the matter say rankled David Zaslav, the new CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, from the start. Zaslav was annoyed by the decision of Jason Kilar, the former CEO of WarnerMedia when it was owned by AT&T, to launch CNN+ just weeks before Discovery was...
REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
Warner Bros. Discovery has pulled the plug on CNN+ after the network’s recently launched streaming service failed to resonate with viewers. It will cease operations on April 30.
"As we become Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN will be strongest as part of WBD’s streaming strategy which envisions news as an important part of a compelling broader offering along with sports, entertainment, and nonfiction content," CNN Worldwide CEO Chris Licht said in a statement.
