Ever suspected that CNN might take itself a touch too seriously? You were right:
Investment and projections for CNN+ are expected to be cut dramatically in response to a low adoption rate, two sources tell Axios.
By the numbers: The news giant was initially planning to invest around $1 billion in the service over the next four years.
And what, exactly, did CNN expect?
Details: CNN executives, with help from consulting firm McKinsey, originally expected to bring in around 2 million subscribers in the U.S. in the service’s first year and 15-18 million after four years.
Why? Why did they expect that? Is CNN really that clueless about the role it now plays in the United States?
Once upon a time, CNN was a trailblazing news network. Now, it sits somewhere between being an MSNBC wannabe that can’t fully commit to the part, and being a Dadaesque form of digital airport wallpaper. The idea that CNN+ — not even real CNN, but the second-string CNN+ — was going to garner 15 million subscribers at any point in history was just delusional. NFL Sunday Ticket only has 2 million subscribers. MLB.tv has 3 million. In primetime, CNN gets fewer than a million viewers. Surely, surely, the network couldn’t truly have believed that there are that many people in America who want to pay to watch Don Lemon pretend to cry?