CNN+ Is Headed to the Train Station – Opinion

The entertainment magazine VarietyThe pulse was pounding this morning and I dropped the following tease about a bombshell.

Warner Bros. Discovery is shutting down CNN+ and is expected to provide details to staffers Thursday, according to two people familiar with the matter.

CNN and Warner Bros. spokespersons Discovery couldn’t be reached immediately for comment.

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. According to these sources, Licht informed Andrew Morse of the decision. Morse couldn’t be reached immediately for comment.

It’s around that time on the East Coast now, and I would love to be a fly on the wall.

LibsofTikTok and CNN+ are alive. https://t.co/ojbREWt3eU

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) April 19, 2022

It’s a joy to be there.

It must have struck fear in Brian Stelter’s corpulent heart to have to post this:

Breaking News: CNN+ will close on April 30th, just one month after its launch. Here’s our initial story – more to come https://t.co/JElI3cVyDF

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) April 21, 2022

In less than 10 days, an entire arm of this media empire will be driven to, “the Train Station.”

Nick Arama (my colleague) reported that CNN+ had just taken off before new management seized control.

With the launch of CNN+ seeming to have run aground — it has barely any viewers and that has Chris Wallace throwing tantrums — one has to wonder if that might get rethought and/or cut, too.

CNN+ subscribed to 200,000 users in less than a month.

It seems that more people were there to launch CNN+ than actually subscribed.

— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) April 21, 2022

We don’t want to be without Chris Wallace, Don Lemon or Jemele hill 24-7. Take it seriously?!

CNN+ has been shut down. It lost hundreds of millions in a matter of months because nobody signed up. In one of the most disastrous media moves of all time, it turns out America wasn’t clamoring for more of Rex Chapman & Jemele Hill. https://t.co/bfT04qikTP

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) April 21, 2022

Chris Wallace, of course, is the hardest to hit. He can’t go back to Fox News with his tail between his legs. Or can he?

You might feel like you are having a rough day. But, think about Chris Wallace. He left Fox and became the star of CNN+. CNN+ was immediately unsuccessful. 🤣🤣🤣

— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) April 21, 2022

Warner Bros. had the writing on their wall. Discovery pulled the advertising dollars from CNN+.

In a move that manages to even frame Quibi’s epic 2020 failure in a more positive light, Warner Bros. Discovery has suspended all external marketing for CNN Plus, just three weeks after the subscription streaming service’s launch.

Awkward.

And as our media contributor Brad Slager reported on Tuesday, CNN’s new management would have preferred that a rollout for CNN+ never happened:

The new management team was not happy with the rollout of CNN+ ahead of the merger, but certain realities made a delay untenable, such as the amount of talent that had been signed at high prices and would then be on the sidelines getting paid to not produce content. What is clear is that CNN+ was not meeting projections, much of that partly due to unrealistic projections being set.

“Unrealistic,” like assuming they had an audience that would actually cared.

CNN+ had already pulled the plug ?!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA pic.twitter.com/PK462qcigT

— Storm Paglia 🇺🇸 (@storm_paglia) April 21, 2022

So much wrong. CNN is a great brand.

Sayonara!