Warner Bros. Discovery is shutting down the CNN+ streaming service on April 30, just a month after it first launched, according to multiple reports.
CNN’s incoming CEO Chris Licht informed Executive Vice President Andrew Morse, who oversees CNN+, of his decision to terminate the service, sources told Variety, which first reported the impending closure.
The closure was subsequently announced in a CNN article. Morse will leave CNN following a transition period, while other staffers were notified of the closure at a Thursday meeting.
Licht told staffers that CNN+ had “an incredibly successful launch,” and that “it is not your fault that you had the rug pulled out from underneath you,” CNN’s article on the closure stated. Licht also described the events as a “uniquely sh**ty situation.”
“In a complex streaming market, consumers want simplicity and an all-in service which provides a better experience and more value than stand-alone offerings, and, for the company, a more sustainable business model to drive our future investments in great journalism and storytelling,” Discovery streaming head J. B. Perrette said in a statement on Thursday.
The closure comes after multiple reports suggested the launch did not fulfill the network’s expectations.
Two weeks after the launch, fewer than 10,000 people were using CNN+, people familiar with the matter told CNBC last week. The streaming service costs $5.99 a month or $59.99 per year.
CNN executives assisted by the McKinsey consulting firm expected the service to draw 2 million subscribers in its first year, and another 15–18 million subscribers after four years, Axios reported. CNN had already invested $300 million in CNN+ and was planning to invest around $1 billion over four years, according to Axios.
Morse announced on March 30 that the first seconds of the CNN+ launch would be sold as NFTs.
“CNN+’s debut is a historic moment for CNN,” Morse said in a statement at the time. “We’re excited to raise the curtain on this new platform and making CNN+’s first live moments available as an NFT is the perfect way to celebrate our launch with digital collectors.”