CNN launching new streaming service, three years after failed venture

CNN will be launching a new streaming product this fall, roughly three years after its expensive and short-lived CNN+ streaming service was shut down just one month after its launch.CNN CEO Mark Thompson made the announcement during a meeting with staff on Tuesday, according to The New York Times, which first reported on the news.CNN said the new streaming product will expand on its existing digital subscription service for customers, which currently gives paid subscribers unlimited access to articles on CNN’s website and exclusive content.In a press release, CNN said the new service will give customers a “simple and centralized way” to access their news content across all platforms — their mobile app, connected TV apps and website.It will be part of an expanded All Access subscription tier, the company added.“CNN has been leading and innovating in video-led journalism since its inception, and the expansion of our subscription offering to include streaming embodies that pioneering spirit,” Alex MacCallum, Executive Vice President, Digital Products and Services, said in a statement.

“We’re giving audiences an even more convenient way to access CNN’s trusted reporting and original programming—brought together in one intuitive, easy-to-use experience.”CNN has not announced details about pricing or a release date yet.The announcement comes roughly three years after CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros.Discovery, scrapped its previous streaming service, CNN+, one month after its launch and shortly after Discovery completed its merger with WarnerMedia, in April 2022.CNN+ was scrutinized at the time for relying on paid subscribers when the basic cable version of CNN was already struggling to attract an audience.“CNN+ is currently set up to fail with a subscription-only revenue model,” Progress Ventures founder Nick MacShane wrote in Adweek at the time.The service, which CNN reportedly spent $300 million to build, failed to resonate with viewers a...