CNN+, the subscription news streaming service launched last March 29 to become available at Roku, has been struggling to increase its less than 10k viewers. CNN+ subscribers have to pay a yearly fee of $59.99 ly or $5.99 even if still isn’t available on Android TV. Unnamed sources are saying that the future of CNN now hangs on a balance.
Low Audience Number Has Not Improved since Launch
The meager size of the CNN+ audience was disclosed by individuals who spoke to CNBC on conditions of anonymity. According to them, the low audience number, which has not improved since launch day, has been casting doubt over the potentials of the application. The launch took place after Warner Media completed the merger of Discovery Channel with Warner Bros. Discovery.
CNBC presented a clearer perspective on how the paltry viewership is hurting CNN by citing that when the news channel suffered from a serious viewership decline last year, the news website still drew an average of 773,000 viewers everyday. Although CNN wanted to make a huge impact with CNN+ by recruiting big-name news personalities like Chris Wallace from Fox News and Kasie Hunt from NBC News, there has not been enough demand to support and sustain CNN+ as a stand-alone, news streaming service.
The reality is that majority of the customers using streaming services, opt for entertainment first. Currently, Disney+ has been dominating the streaming landscape, having taken in more than 10 million subscribers on its very first day of launch alone.
While other streaming services have been releasing information about the exact number of subscribers to their news programs, CNN+ has yet to release an official statement about the number of subscribers using the CNN+ streaming application.
According to an Axios report a new leadership at Warner Bros. Discovery effective May 01, and in the person of incoming CNN chief Chris Licht will decide on how to best proceed with the future of CNN+.