Shannon Nutt

It's actually closer to $300 million

After One Month and $300 Million, CNN+ Shutters (yahoo.com)

TheMovieman

Yikes. Sounds like the last blunder from the old Warner Bros. (I know it was Zucker's brainchild).

Decker

Damn,$300M and dead in 3 weeks? Why didn't they try giving like a free month or the first 6 months for $1/month or a full preview for HBO Max subscribers or some such promotion? I might have tried it for a while but I wasn't sure if I was all that interested and heck they didn't even have proper apps up and running yet. So weird to kill it that quickly.

Red Hood

It's simple. New owners didn't want the project at all. Either they didn't believe in it, or just didn't care or just wants to cut losses. Mergers always causes streamline and in the case of this one, we are already hearing about HBOMax and Discovery+ merging in order to reduce redundancy. Like I mentioned, Warner Bros has have issues with redundancy and lack of synergy since forever. Even back in the Turner days, it would be a pain in the ass for a property of one division, lets say DC Comics, have a cross promotion or working agreement with Cartoon Network or WCW or the Atlanta Braves. It seems that Discovery is poised to resolve this issue and work more like Disney where synergy has been a key to their success.

E Unit

I’d be comical to have those CNN+ exclusive shows show up on The Roku Channel.

dvd-4-life

That lifetime price guarantee didn't last very long.

Shannon Nutt

I don't know if the $300 million includes Chris Wallace's contract, which was reported at $9 million per year. I'm sure that's guaranteed too...not sure how long he signed for. But they'll find a place for him on the regular channel, I'm sure.

DJLinus

If the source in this story from a couple of weeks ago is to be believed, Wallace wasn't too happy there: https://ijr.com/wallace-daily-breakd...le-launch-cnn/

Maybe he was playing 4D chess: quit Fox News for a streamer that would inevitably fail, just so he could be given a show on the network. Brilliant!

cultshock

Damn, there sure is blood in the water from streaming services this week.

DJariya

CNN plus is pulling the plug on Thursday

https://deadline.com/2022/04/cnn-plu...er-1235011538/

All the daily shows and documentaries will no longer be available.

DJariya

DJLinus

I heard someone say that with CNN+ shutting down 2 days earlier than planned, they can't even fail successfully.

Eric F

Nobody noticed.

Decker

CNN Max launches tomorrow. 24/7 News, apparently commercial-free.CNN Press Room

Max To Offer 24/7 Live News Streaming Service With “CNN Max” Launching On September 27 As Part Of An Open Beta In U.S.

“CNN Max” to Feature a Full-Seven-Day Schedule from the Most Trusted Name in News, Included with All Max Packages – Max With Ads, Max Ad-Free and Max Ultimate Ad-Free

Max, Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming platform, announced today the addition of 24/7 news in its streaming offering with the U.S. launch of CNN Max on September 27. CNN Max will leverage CNN’s reporting excellence, global newsgathering, and live programming from CNN US, CNN International, and feature original programming built specifically for Max. CNN Max will be a new seven-day-a-week/24-hour service and be part of an open beta for news that will enable experimentation with product features, content offerings and original storytelling, all with the input and feedback from the Max community.

Featuring the most notable worldwide CNN anchors, the new service will include new programming built specifically for the Max streaming audience like “CNN Newsroom with Jim Acosta, Rahel Solomon, Amara Walker and Fredricka Whitfield,” and “CNN Newsroom with Jim Sciutto.” Jim Sciutto will also lead breaking news coverage on the platform in the afternoons. CNN Max will additionally feature “Amanpour,” “Anderson Cooper 360,” “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer,” and other anchors, correspondents, and contributors. This new 24/7 streaming service will bring the immediacy and value of global breaking news with top analysis, context, and reporting across all the biggest stories in the world to the Max streaming audience and enhance the product with the convenience of viewing news at anytime, anywhere, and on any screen.

“As we laid out at our launch only a few months ago, our vision for Max is to be The One to Watch for all members of a household. We have the broadest and highest quality entertainment offering, and now will include world-leading news as a meaningful addition for all Max subscribers, at no extra charge. CNN Max is differentiated by having 24/7 news at its core from CNN, the leading global news organization, and being available on a scaled streaming service in the U.S., which has a significantly younger and additive audience compared to traditional TV. This provides even more quality choices for Max customers who will be able to easily catch up on what is happening in the world, particularly in moments of breaking news, all within one seamless experience. We’re excited to engage our Max community in this initial beta stage to help us learn and develop what appeals most to our customers in this new genre,” stated JB Perrette, CEO and President, Global Streaming and Games.

Decker

Better article :

CNN is launching a live service on Max with new programming as the network reboots its streaming efforts

CNN is heading to the Max streaming platform.

The network’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), announced Thursday that it will incorporate live news into its super-streamer Max service, allowing subscribers access to 24/7 programming from the global news brand.

The service, which launches a little more than a year after Warner Bros. Discovery executives shuttered the previous standalone CNN+ service, will be called CNN Max and launch with a “beta” label on September 27 in the United States before being rolled out more broadly following feedback received during the nascent stage.

CNN Max will include some of the network’s most recognizable shows, such as “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” “The Situation Room,” “Anderson Cooper 360,” and “Amanpour.” It will also feature new live programs specifically created for the streamer, including “CNN Newsroom with Jim Acosta, Rahel Solomon, Amara Walker and Fredricka Whitfield” and “CNN Newsroom with Jim Sciutto.” Sciutto will lead breaking news reports as warranted in the afternoons.

CNN Max will additionally feature the news network’s large slate of previously developed original programming, including Emmy-award winning shows such as “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” and “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.” Current programs, such as “The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper” and “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?” will also be made available.

CNN’s four-person interim leadership team — made up of Amy Entelis, David Leavy, Virginia Moseley, and Eric Sherling — said that the network “was founded by innovating new ways to deliver the news, and through CNN Max more consumers will now be able to find, engage and learn from CNN’s reporting, giving the company multiple ways to build and grow for the future.”

Another streaming effort

The launch of CNN Max marks CNN’s second recent foray into streaming as the company moves to quickly create a life boat for the future as linear television continues to rapidly decline in the era of streaming. The number of households paying for basic cable has shrunk considerably, imperiling the longstanding business models of traditional television. According to Nielsen, linear television made up less than half of all viewing for the first time last month.

Under previous leadership, CNN launched the standalone streaming service CNN+, which former executives touted as one of the most important moves in the network’s four-decade history. AT&T (T), CNN’s previous owner, allowed the network to invest significantly into the service, building a streaming infrastructure and luring household names such as Chris Wallace and Audie Cornish to the platform for new shows.

But CNN+ never fit into the plans of Warner Bros. Discovery, which offered a vision of a super-streamer that bundled a large volume of content under one roof. Warner Bros. Discovery executives, needing to cut costs to pay down billions in debt after acquiring CNN’s former parent company, WarnerMedia, from AT&T, also balked at the cost of building and programming CNN+.

As a result, CNN+ was quickly shut down after ownership switched hands, leaving the news network without a viable path forward in the streaming age.

CNN Max represents a path forward into the future, while also being more aligned with Warner Bros. Discovery’s vision. The service will be housed inside its Max platform, which features a wide array of content from HBO, Discovery, and Warner Bros. Pictures. It will emphasize breaking news over personality driven television. And, perhaps most importantly, it will likely come at a far lower price point, given that it will leverage many of its existing resources.

One of the complaints about CNN+ was that it did not feature some of CNN’s most prominent programming. Because of distribution agreements with US cable companies, who pay CNN for carriage rights, the network is prohibited from selling its programming independently. To solve for the problem, Warner Bros. Discovery will offer Max subscribers access to portions of CNN International, a separate channel not bound by such agreements, in which some of its biggest US shows are simulcasted.

Warner Bros. Discovery executives, including chief executive David Zaslav, have talked about how they believe live news will allow them to distinguish the Max streaming service from others, such as Netflix (NFLX).

When the Max service was unveiled in April, Zaslav hinted that news and sports programming will factor into the service in the future, given that Warner Bros. Discovery owns properties such as Turner Sports and CNN.

“As we laid out at our launch only a few months ago, our vision for Max is to be The One to Watch for all members of a household,” JB Perrette, the Warner Bros. Discovery executive who oversees the company’s streaming strategy, said in a statement. “We have the broadest and highest quality entertainment offering, and now will include world-leading news as a meaningful addition for all Max subscribers, at no extra charge.”

Warner Bros. Discovery said that CNN Max will be available across all its various subscription packages, including its advertiser-supported plans.

DJariya

A sub channel within Max makes much more sense than when it launched as a standalone service.

TheBang

Yeah, but when they start bundling all the extra stuff in with the service (news, sports, etc.), then they'll start raising the price of the service, saying the content is driving the cost up. They should do it as an add-on, like the sports will be next year.

Decker

They say it's in Beta. They might very well charge for it next year as well if it's popular enough.
Lord knows after the debacle that was CNN+, they're not going to announce it as a new pay service yet. They're not that stupid.