Member-only story
CNN+ = CNN-
CNN just launched its new streaming service and it looks like a dud.
Goodbye, CNN+: Did we ever even know you at all?
Though it just launched, CNN’s streaming service appears to be defunct on arrival. Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns the subsidiary, looks to be in the process of pulling the plug, or at the very least, subjecting CNN+ to a drastic rethink.
Netting a paltry 150,000 subscribers, the underwhelming performance of the subscription service so far has stunned its progenitors, many who still insist the roll-out has been a success. For comparison, The Wall Street Journal has 2.9 million subscribers and The Washington Post has 2.7 million.
One reason for this failure could be timing. Subscription streaming services have been all the rage for some time now. CNN is a bit late to the party.
Disney+, the children’s entertainment giant, was a tremendous hit at its unveiling, though the iconic mouse also certainly took its time about it.
Disney- managing a massive, valuable content library of copyrighted material dating back decades- at least had good reason for waiting so long. For CNN, it is difficult to understand why 2022 is the launch date for CNN+.
CNN, like Blockbuster video before it, may have simply waited much too long to change with the marketplace.