❓WHAT HAPPENED: CNN announced the launch of a new subscription service, “All Access,” set to begin on October 28 at $6.99 per month.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: CNN Worldwide Chairman and CEO Mark Thompson, alongside Alex MacCallum, EVP of digital products and services.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The service launches on October 28, offering access to live and on-demand content via CNN platforms.
💬KEY QUOTE: “It’s an essential step in CNN’s evolution as we work to give audiences the complete CNN experience in a format that reflects how audiences engage with the news today,” said Alex MacCallum.
🎯IMPACT: The move reflects CNN’s effort to squeeze profit out of a declining viewer base.
CNN has announced the launch of its new subscription service, “All Access,” which will begin on October 28 at a cost of $6.99 per month. A previous attempt at a pay-for-streaming service, CNN+, helped precipitate the firing of the network’s prior CEO, Chris Licht, after just over a year on the job in 2023. CNN+ lasted just 30 days before being abandoned.
The new service will provide subscribers with live and on-demand content and access to CNN’s digital journalism. Last year, the corporate news network instituted a paywall for much of its written content and inked a deal to replace much of its original reporting with content from the Associated Press.
Alex MacCallum, CNN Worldwide’s executive vice president of digital products and services, described the initiative as “an essential step in CNN’s evolution” to meet the way audiences consume news today. Mark Thompson, CNN Worldwide’s chairman and CEO, has been a driving force behind merging CNN’s linear and digital operations to better serve its audience.
CNN is offering an introductory annual rate of $41.99, discounted from the standard $69.99 annual price.
Over the last several years, the network has seen its share ratings plummet. Declining viewership and executive-level turmoil—along with its failed attempts at subscription services—have resulted in numerous rounds of layoffs and the firing of top on-air talent. The National Pulse reported last November that several key network personalities, including Wolf Blitzer and Jake Tapper, were refused raises, and numerous production staff were laid off.
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