CNN+ Strategy Comes Into Focus

CNN+ will make its appearance at the end of March with an introductory price of $2.99 a month–a rate that early members will keep as long as they maintain an active account–and $5.99 a month after the promotion ends.

That post-promo cost is the same as Fox News' Fox Nation streaming subscription.

A lower-cost, ad-supported version of CNN+ is expected to be offered in the future, as well as a bundle with HBO Max.

CNN+ will provide 8 to 12 hours of daily original programming, both live and on-demand. Shows will be led by newly hired high-profile journalists such as former Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, former MSNBC host Kasie Hunt, and ex-NPR star Audie Cornish.

The streamer’s news content will be distinct from the cable channels, which in addition to the flagship CNN include CNN International, HLN, and CNN en Espanol. CNN+'s ability to deliver a live feed of its linear network to standalone streaming subscribers is also apparently limited due to pay-TV provider agreements.

The service won’t have its own app. Instead, it will be available as a standalone purchase or as an optional add-on cost for pay-TV users with CNN access, from within the same CNN app.

Analysts have questioned who will pay for CNN+ when so much news is available for free. CBS and NBC both offer free news streaming services, to say nothing of all the news on YouTube.

CNN Digital chief Andrew Morse argued CNN is in a unique position, given that it doesn’t compete with mainstream entertainment services and none of its direct rivals in news has the same level of resources. 

73.1% of US internet users consume subscription OTT video, per eMarketer's forecast, the greatest percentage of any region projected—but China has three times as many streaming subscription users overall. And most growth is happening outside of North America, with the Middle East and Africa growing at 22.4%.

With Warner Bros. Discovery expected to carry $58 billion in debt, it’s hard to say how CNN can contribute to cuts that will likely come.

WarnerMedia is in a tricky spot: It does not want to alienate its linear TV network partners that are cannibalizing their audiences, but as cord-cutting continues, it didn’t have the option of not attempting to grow its streaming presence.

With an increasing number of subscriptions to manage, there’s a question of how much consumers are willing to pay in total to stream video content. Netflix recently hiked its plans, making them more expensive than HBO Max’s ad-free tier or bundling Disney+, Hulu (ad-supported), and ESPN+.