[RT] CNN...the organization formerly known as the
Cable News Network. Now who knows what it might stand for...
’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery has officially pulled the plug on the premium streaming service CNN+ after a mere three weeks. Thursday’s announcement came as a "total and utter shock" to employees of the service, which has reportedly already spent $300 million to hire top corporate media talent, launch and advertise, with another $700 million in investments planned.
Variety magazine broke the story on Thursday morning, saying the decision came from Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. By noon, CNN executives confirmed it to the staff at their offices in a New York City high-rise, saying the service would shut down on April 30.
The announcement was met with "total and utter shock" that "morphed into despair," an anonymous staffer told CNN’s Brian Stelter and Oliver Darcy. Staffers were "freaking out" at first, then "turned to sadness" before breaking out whiskey and wine "to commiserate."
Officially, Zaslav wants to unite all of the company’s brands under one streaming service. CNN+ was commissioned by former WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, just weeks before Discovery acquired its parent company AT&T earlier this year.
CNN had planned to sink $1 billion into the venture, hiring executives, producers and on-air talent from other networks, and planning for CNN+ to break even after four years. The service attracted as many as 150,000 subscribers in the first couple weeks, according to some reports — though others said a mere 10,000 people tuned in on a daily basis.
