CNN Is Trying to Sell a Streaming Service Again (Only More Expensive This Time)

For years now, CNN has been haplessly trying to modernize its media franchise by launching a streaming service. Those of you aware of these efforts will recall CNN+, which launched a few years ago and, despite an ample amount of buzz and financing, humiliatingly lasted less than a month.

Well, not to be deterred, CNN is now trying it again.

This week, the news network’s owner, Warner Bros. Discovery, announced its next venture into streaming: CNN “All Access.” From the looks of things, as reported by CNBC, “All Access” doesn’t look terribly dissimilar from the last attempt to make this thing happen.

“It’s an essential step in CNN’s evolution,” Reuters quotes Alex MacCallum, CNN Worldwide’s executive vice president for digital products and services, as saying.

It may be essential, but will it actually work? That’s the question that hangs over this entire operation. It will likely only work if the network can corner a market of folks who feel that it’s in their best interest to shell out a certain amount of money so that they can stream CNN news programs—and the jury’s still out on whether such a market even exists.

Speaking of money, the pricing for “All Access” is comparable (but actually higher) than the fees for CNN+, which, at the time of its launch in 2022, cost $6 a month, or $60 a year. “All Access” costs $6.99 a month or $69.99 annually, CNBC reports, so, inflation considered, it’s not a terrible leap in price. The outlet also notes that, in an effort to gin up some initial interest, the service is also offering a limited-time annual subscription that only costs $41.99. To qualify for that deal, you have to sign up by January 5.

If you’ll recall, CNN+ was developed several years ago and was initially hailed as the future of news programming. Problematically, almost nobody signed up for the service. At the time, CNBC reported that, in the first few weeks of the service, only 10,000 people watched CNN+ on a daily basis. Some commentators noted that the demographic most committed to accessing media through streaming (younger viewers) was not exactly the demographic most known for watching CNN (older viewers). At the time of its unfortunate launch, it was compared to Quibi, the financially bloated streaming service launched in 2020 that sought to monetize “quick bite” infotainment but crashed and burned inside of a year.

No one knows whether CNN+: The Sequel will flounder or flourish. The news network has obviously set the bar pretty low for itself. With CNN+’s dismally short-lived tenure, the new service probably only needs to last two months to be considered an improvement by the company’s C-suite.