CNN’s streaming service spent $300 million in three weeks before its parent company pulled the plug. After only one month on-air, CNN’s premium streaming service is getting the ax., writes Rich Mitchell at CDN. CNN’s parent company, Discovery, announced this afternoon that the pay-to-watch service would end its extremely short run at the end of April.
Former US President Donald Trump reacted by congratulating CNN+ on the decision to fold due to “lack of ratings, or viewers in any way, shape or form” and called the service “just one more piece of CNN and Fake News that we don’t have to bother with anymore.”
Independent journalist Glenn Greenwald pointed out that demand for news very much existed, but that audiences did not want “establishment tripe that spreads disinformation to serve one party:”
“CNN+ had a short life – if you blinked, you missed it – but the light it cast upon the world was dull, banal and pointless, like a wisp of wind that you’re not even sure blew by,” Greenwald said on Twitter.
Incoming CEO John Licht held a town hall-style meeting with employees Thursday to break the news. During the meeting he called the shutdown a “uniquely shitty situation” and informed employees that they would receive pay and benefits for another 90 days while they “explore other opportunities.” If they are unable to find a job within CNN by then, they will be given a minimum of 6 months severence pay.
CNN+ staffers initially reacted to the announcement with “total and utter shock” but shortly afterward turned to sorrow.
“At first people were really freaking out,” explained the person, who requested anonymity to candidly describe the situation. “And then, toward the end of the meeting, it just turned to sadness. Every team was just huddling with each other.”
Celebrating the life of CNN+ pic.twitter.com/n0p5KRStgi
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) April 21, 2022
The launch despite it not fitting with Discovery’s all-in-one approach to streaming services. CNN+ went live just two weeks before the merger between Discovery and CNN was complete and, now, is just 9 days from its curtain call.
After a spectacularly failed run of only 23 days, the streaming service that launched because someone at CNN was convinced Americans wanted to hear more of the likes of Brian Stelter and Chris Wallace has come to an awkward end.
As The Federalist’s own Books Editor Mark Hemingway noted, you don’t have to be happy about ordinary workers losing their jobs to recognize that the higher-ups at CNN and in the rest of the corporate media have been working overtime to deserve the frustration people feel about their propaganda, and to call out the company’s ridiculous lack of self-awareness that led to the demise of CNN Plus. In that vein, here are some of the best reactions on Twitter today to CNN’s latest embarrassment.
Some pointed to CNN’s projections of a “long run of success” for the failed project as yet another example of the network’s lies.
https://twitter.com/ArthurSchwartz/status/1517174096303427587
Jordan Chamberlain pointed to the infamous misbehavior of CNN’s own Jeffrey Toobin, who was welcomed back to the network after pleasuring himself on a Zoom call with colleagues.
Erin Perrine reminded us that Kim Kardashian’s marriage to Kris Humphries lasted longer than the doomed streaming service.
And Greg Price had a few more items to add to that list:
As Dave Rubin noted, it wouldn’t cost Elon Musk much money to buy out the failed platform.
Others pointed out that few viewers would be willing to pay for something that they hardly watched for free.
And we should all join The Federalist’s CEO Sean Davis in a moment of silence for Chris Wallace, who left Fox News to join the doomed CNN project.
Here are a few more of our favorites:
The universally unpopular "New Coke" lasted over twice as long as CNN+. pic.twitter.com/vBGt9l5Le6
— Media Research Center (@theMRC) April 21, 2022