The roof is caving in over CNN.
And CNN executives never saw it coming.
Now CNN just suffered an embarrassing implosion that destroyed the network.
As Conservative Revival reports:
In Joe Rogan’s first month exclusively on Spotify his podcast attracted nearly three million listeners according to Business Insider.
In contrast only, 100,000 to 150,000 people subscribed to CNN+ even though CNN reportedly invested $300 million into the streaming platform and according to CNBC only 10,000 people were using the service on a daily basis.
The numbers are so dismal that the network is due to close April 30 after launching on March 29, lasting less than a month.
CNN boss Chris Licht told staffers at a midday meeting Thursday that “this was an incredibly successful launch” but just wasn’t in line with Warner Bros Discovery’s new plans.
“It’s not your fault that you had the rug pulled out from underneath you,” Licht said, CNN reported.
The staff are reportedly furious that the network is being canceled.
“This is f*cking nuts,” a staffer told the New York Post.
“Many people left their stable jobs at CNN to go to CNN+ and then they pull it right after launch? Everyone is aghast and furious,” a source said. “This literally rivals the epic disaster of Quibi,” another reportedly said.
“The big people will likely be saved, but what about everybody else, the people who do the real work?” the insider told The Post.
CNN claimed that they closed the unsuccessful launch in under a month because Discovery CEO David Zaslav wants to create a streaming service that will include all the company’s brands.
“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’s streaming boss J.B. Perrette said in a statement.
“We have very exciting opportunities ahead in the streaming space and CNN, one of the world’s premier reputational assets, will play an important role there,” Perrette added.
The few who had subscribed to CNN+ will receive prorated refunds of the $5.99 a month subscription fee, the company said.
Despite the terrible numbers, high cost and shutdown of the network after a mere month Brian Stelter isn’t sure that CNN+ was a failure.
“It’s too early to know if this product, if this service, was a success or a failure,” Stelter said on Friday’s edition of “Reliable Sources Daily” on the soon-to-be shuttered platform.
“You’ve got all the haters today saying this thing was a failure. I don’t know if we can even ever assess that because it just simply didn’t have enough time because of the management’s change in direction,” he said.