CNN+ Terminated After Just 21 Days in Epic Failure

Well that didn’t take long.

JUST IN – WarnerBros Discovery terminates CNN+ streaming service at the end of this month, failed after just 21 days.

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) April 21, 2022

Following a string of reports about underwhelming subscriber numbers, Discovery has reportedly decided to shut down CNN+, CNN’s ill-fated streaming service, just 21 days after its launch.

CNN+ will go down as one of the biggest media failures in history

— Tim Pool (@Timcast) April 21, 2022

Given all the carnage in the streaming space lately, it looks like Discovery and Warner Brothers have decided to cut their losses. In the meantime, content from the platform will move to HBO Max, another streaming service owned by Warner Brothers.

According to reports from Variety and the New York Times, the service will cease operation on April 30.

Chris Licht, the incoming CEO of CNN, sent a memo to staffers Thursday morning about “an important meeting” to be held at noon, and is at that time expected to inform staffer about the decision, these people said. Licht has already told Andrew Morse, the CNN executive vice president who oversees the newly-launched streaming-video outlet, of the decision, these people said. Morse could not be reached for immediate comment.

The quick shutdown and failure will almost certainly elicit comparisons to Quibi, the mobile-only streaming service launched by Meg Whitman and Jeffrey Katzenberg that shut down after just a few months after squandering some $2 billion.

As we reported earlier this month, CNN+’s dramatic failure to launch comes after it lured talent such as Chris Wallace from Fox News and Kasie Hunt from NBC News. There had been reports about ‘big cuts’ that were in store for the streaming service due to the low adoption rate. The news giant was initially planning to invest around $1 billion in the service over the next four years.

As the NYT explained, CNN+’s fortunes changed abruptly after its former parent, WarnerMedia (owner of HBO and the storied Warner Bros. film studio) finished its merger with Discovery. Since the merger closed earlier this month, doubts have circulated about the future of CNN+, which had previously been touted as the future of CNN.

Republished from ZeroHedge.com with permission