Warner Brothers Discovery will inform employees Thursday that the CNN+ online streaming service will shut down at the end of the month, just one month after the service went live with great fanfare, CNBC reports.
The decision to quickly shut down CNN+ was done largely at the recommendation of new CNN president Chris Licht, who feels the service and the rollout were not compatible with the network’s brand. Although he does not official start until May 1st, Licht was scheduled to address CNN+ employees midday Thursday.
The existing program will either be shifted to HBO Max or CNN’s standard website. Many of CNN+’s employees will be shifted to those operations. CNN invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the streaming service, including bringing on top-dollar talent like former Fox host Chris Wallace, but the service only attracted about 10,000 regular daily visitors.