CNN+ streaming service ready for launch Tuesday
Once a familiar voice on NPR, Audie Cornish says she signed on to the new CNN+ streaming service in part out of the sense she was helping to open a new frontier.
After much talk, nearly $100 million in development costs and some 500 employees assigned to the task — many, like Cornish, new hires — CNN+ is set to launch next Tuesday.
The company on Thursday revealed a typical day’s schedule, with a news countdown hosted by Kate Bolduan, a deep-dive news hour hosted by Sara Sidner, a Chris Wallace interview show, and hours on politics, international news and the media topped by Wolf Blitzer’s evening newscast.
“It’s so rare to have a legacy news organization pour resources into something like this, at this scale,” said Cornish, whose weekly interview show “20 Questions” will debut in May. “A lot of times people say they will pivot into something, and it can be half-hearted. I really appreciated that they were going all-in.”
She said that it’s “rare that anyone says come and do what you do for us. It’s usually, ‘come and do what we need.’”
CNN+ is a big swing, done at a tumultuous time in the company’s leadership, and there’s no shortage of skepticism in the industry about its chances. But CNN views streaming as the future, a way to engage younger consumers, and sees The New York Times as the model for a successful news subscription service.
It will cost $5.99 a month, but charter subscribers can lock in a $2.99 monthly charge in perpetuity if they act within a month of the launch.
“We think it will be incredibly attractive to the CNN fan, people who respond to our journalism, people who tune to us when there’s something going on in the world,” said Andrew Morse, executive vice president and chief digital officer at CNN. “At its heart, CNN+ will be about great journalism and story-telling.”
While news is the core, and CNN+ will have the ability to go live on big stories, the service is also relying on a growing library of original series and films, such as “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” and “RBG.” CNN+ will also emphasize programs featuring people who have a specific, devoted following, like Alison Roman in cooking, Scott Galloway in business and Jemele Hill and Rex Chapman in sports and culture. CNN’s Anderson Cooper will have a show on parenting, and Jake Tapper, a seven-time author himself, will have a program focusing on books.
Two online series will be available at launch: “The Murdochs: Empire of Influence,” about media mogul Rupert Murdoch, and “The Land of the Giants: Titans of Tech,” profiles of the biggest high-tech firms.
Also planned is an interactive element where subscribers can put questions directly to show hosts.
News competitors are already in the paid streaming space. Fox Nation, another paid subscription service, is designed to appeal to those who like Fox’s opinion programming. MSNBC recently announced that it will make many of its programs available through Peacock.
The ABC, CBS and NBC broadcast news divisions offer news streaming products for free.
One analyst said CNN+ may receive a boost because the war in Ukraine is reminding many consumers of the company’s news muscles. CNN+ will be attractive to consumers who are cutting the cable cord but don’t want to lose access to news and information, said Alan Wolk, co-founder of TVREV, a media analysis firm.
With questions about the future of cable news given its older audiences, CNN+ is the latest big step in the news industry’s seemingly endless quest to reach more young people, he said.
Stephen Beck, managing partner of the consulting firm cg42, said he’s concerned that CNN+ will be caught in a consumer squeeze. People have only so much money to spend on streaming services and usually opt for behemoths like Netflix, Amazon or Disney.
He questions whether CNN+ will have enough juice to compete.
“From a content side, they don’t have big draws and, at the end of the day, that’s what gets you into the home and onto the screen,” Beck said.