CNN+ was reportedly on rocky ground from the start, and its demise is not exactly surprising or unexpected. It’s mostly just the timing that seems to be catching people by surprise. The decision was announced by incoming CNN president Chris Licht with little warning — many CNN+ employees only found out from social media news reports after the fact.
One significant factor in CNN+’s fate is Warner Bros. Discovery, the new behemoth parent company of CNN birthed from the recent merger of its original parent WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc. Discovery’s leadership team was less than enthused with CNN+ and the tens of millions of dollars that had gone into it, having had no success in their own attempts to launch streaming services in the past. CNN+ launched just days before the merger was complete, adding fuel to that fire.
“While today’s decision is incredibly difficult, it is the right one for the long-term success of CNN,” said Licht. “It allows us to refocus resources on the core products that drive our singular focus: further enhancing CNN’s journalism and its reputation as a global news leader.”
