CNN+

Reception

CNN+ launched to mixed reviews and low subscriber numbers. Vulture wrote that "While it's far too early to reach any definitive judgments, CNN+ in its formative phase feels somewhat like the Quibi of streaming news: Lots of money has been spent, big stars are onboard, but it's hard to figure out just what the service is supposed to be and why a large number of people will want to pay for it." The reviewer noted that CNN+, despite its standalone subscription fee, did not include any CNN content, either live or on demand.[21] Newsday's media critic Verne Gay gave CNN+ a two-star review (out of four), praising many of its shows and the lack of commercial interruption while wondering about the mythical "unicorn viewer who has no time to eat or sleep" with the time and attention to watch its content.[22] PC Magazine gave CNN+ a 4.0 out of 5 rating, praising its programming and its lack of ads while criticizing its lack of live CNN programming (without a paid cable subscription) and its lack of mobile content downloads.[23] National Review wrote that the channel was a dumping ground for content that "wasn't good enough to run on CNN."[24]

CNN executives originally expected to have two million subscribers in CNN+'s first year and 15–18 million after four years. CNN originally estimated that it would invest $1 billion in CNN+ over its first four years, but after a slow start, Axios reported that "hundreds of millions of dollars are expected to be cut" from that investment.[25]

On April 12, two weeks after its launch, CNBC reported that fewer than 10,000 people were using CNN+ on a daily basis. With the merger of Warner Bros. Discovery having completed four days earlier, CNBC suggested that CNN+ programming might become available as part of a larger bundled offering with HBO Max and Discovery+, each of which have millions of subscribers.[26] Much of the CNN original programming on HBO Max had been removed in advance of the CNN+ launch.[27]

By April 19, CNN+ had about 150,000 subscribers.[28]

Shutdown

On April 21, 2022, CNN announced that CNN+ would cease operations on April 30. Andrew Morse, who led CNN's digital properties, would also be leaving the company. New CNN head Chris Licht and Discovery's head of streaming and interactive entertainment J.B. Perrette described the service as incompatible with the company's goal of forming a single streaming service to cover all its properties. It was expected that some of CNN+'s original programming would migrate to a combined streaming service housing Warner Bros. Discovery's content or the linear CNN cable television channel. Licht stated that the service's employees would "continue to be paid and receive benefits for the next 90 days to explore opportunities at CNN, CNN Digital, and elsewhere in the Warner Bros. Discovery family" and that departing CNN+ employees would receive at least six months of severance depending on their length of service. All subscribers to CNN+ would receive a pro-rated refund.[29][30][31] On April 27, the shutdown was moved up to the next day, and the home page redirected to a help section about the service's whereabouts.[32] CNN+ was the shortest-lived service under the Warner Bros. Discovery/Turner Broadcasting umbrella, breaking the previous record set by the Cable Music Channel, which lasted 35 days between October 26 and November 30, 1984.[33]

During the Warner Bros. Discovery upfronts, it was announced the CNN+ series Who's Talking to Chris Wallace? and Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico would both be carried by CNN and stream on HBO Max.[34] On August 4, 2022, it was announced that a "hub" featuring CNN original series and documentaries would be added to Discovery+ on August 19, 2022.[35]

In August 2023, CNN subsequently announced that it would launch a new streaming news channel on Max known as CNN Max on September 27, which will feature a mixture of original live news programming and simulcasts of CNN primetime programs.[36]

Live weekday schedule

The network's daily programming included:

• 5 Things with Kate Bolduan; adapted from CNN's podcast and newsletter of the same name, it highlighted the five key stories of the day.[37][38]
• Go There; an anchorless newscast featuring live field reports by CNN correspondents, and viewer questions.[39][40]
• Big Picture with Sara Sidner; a discussion program focusing on "the most important and interesting story of the day".[37]
• Reliable Sources Daily; a spin-off of CNN's Sunday morning program, hosted by chief media correspondent Brian Stelter.[37]
• The Source with Kasie Hunt; a political analysis program.[37]
• The Global Brief with Bianca Nobilo (simulcast with CNN International; the only such program simulcast with a linear CNN network).[37]
• Who's Talking to Chris Wallace?; An interview program hosted by former Fox News journalist Chris Wallace, airing Mondays to Thursdays.[37]
• The Newscast with Wolf Blitzer; a newscast billed as a modernized equivalent to a traditional evening newscast, featuring "original reporting from around the world, investigations and consumer focused stories"[37]

Weekly schedule

• Boss Files with Poppy Harlow (Mondays)
• Anderson Cooper Full Circle (Tuesdays and Saturdays)
• No Mercy, No Malice with Scott Galloway (Tuesdays)
• Parental Guidance with Anderson Cooper (Wednesdays)
• Jake Tapper's Book Club (Sundays)
• Rex Chapman (Mondays)
• The Don Lemon Show (Fridays)

Daily schedule

• CNN+ Special Report (breaking news coverage)
• Interview Club (CNN+ subscribers ask questions to experts in live interviews)

CNN+ Original Series

• Land of the Giants: Titans of Tech
• The Murdochs: Empire of Influence
• The Wonder List with Bill Weir (season 4)
• Flashpoints with Fareed Zakaria[9]

CNN+ FlashDocs

New documentary unit exploring timely and topical pop culture stories.

• Chicago vs. Jussie Smollett