CNN+ is shutting down just weeks after it launched

The past few years has seen a wave of new video streaming services, as more media companies realize their potential for profits. However, with the market becoming more saturated all the time, and the monthly budget of most people staying the same (or shrinking), there isn’t much more room for new competitors. Following a corporate reshuffle, CNN owner WarnerMedia announced its brand-new CNN+ service is shutting down.

WarnerMedia confirmed on Thursday that its new CNN+ streaming service would shut down on April 30, just one month after it was launched. CNN reportedly poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the new service, which primarily featured documentaries and live programming for $5.99 per month. CNN had also brought on high-profile hosts to produce content for the platform, including Chris Wallace (who previously hosted Fox News Sunday), Audie Cornish (from NPR’s All Things Considered and Pop Culture Happy Hour), and Alison Roman (previously at Buzzfeed Food and Bon Appétit).

CNN and WarnerMedia never confirmed any details about the service’s popularity — sources told CNBC that it had fewer than 10,000 daily users — but the shutdown seems mostly due to changing corporate ownership. AT&T just finished selling off Warner Media to Discovery, which merged to become Warner Bros. Discovery earlier this month. HBO Max and Discovery Plus will eventually merge into one service as a result, and executives at the new company apparently aren’t interested in the additional costs required to prop up another service.

The news comes only days after Netflix confirmed its first loss in monthly subscribers in more than ten years, likely due to a recent price increase in the United States and Canada and the company’s shutdown in Russia. Netflix is experimenting with cheaper ad-supported plans to boost subscriber numbers, while Disney announced it would do the same for Disney+.

Source: New York Times, CNN

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