CNN+ will shut down April 30, just one month after launch

Warner Bros. Discovery is shutting down CNN+ on April 30, just weeks after the stand-alone streaming service launched.

“This is not a decision about quality; we appreciate all of the work, ambition and creativity that went into building CNN+, an organization with terrific talent and compelling programming,” Chris Licht, chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, said in a statement. “But our customers and CNN will be best served with a simpler streaming choice.”

The company also announced CNN+ head Andrew Morse is leaving Warner Bros. Discovery after a transition period. Alex MacCallum, currently CNN+’s general manager and head of product, will lead CNN Digital after Morse departs.

WarnerMedia launched the stand-alone news service less than a month ago on March 29. It had garnered fewer than 10,000 daily active viewers about two weeks after its launch, CNBC reported last week. The company said customers will receive prorated refunds on subscription fees.

New CNN head Licht has been working behind the scenes with other executives at Warner Bros. Discovery for several weeks to analyze a streaming strategy for CNN, according to a person familiar with the matter. The decision to shut down CNN+ is based on his recommendation, the person said, who asked not to be identified because the discussions were private.

Warner Bros. Discovery hasn’t officially outlined its streaming plans and ambitions, but as CNBC has previously reported, the goal is to combine HBO Max and Discovery+ with other programming from WarnerMedia — including potentially live news and sports — and offer all of the content together as a Netflix-competitor. If the goal is to maximize the number of subscribers for the big bundle, dedicating resources to CNN+, rather than putting that programming in the larger bundle, could be antithetical to the company’s strategy.

Licht and Warner Bros. Discovery head of global streaming JB Perrette were among the executives that addressed CNN staffers directly at a meeting Thursday, according to people familiar with the meeting. Perrette told employees once new leadership made the decision that CNN+ didn’t fit strategically into the company’s plans, the most logical move was to shut it down immediately, one of the people said. Licht’s official start date is May 1.

CNN has already invested hundreds of millions of dollars on new talent and programming for CNN+. Some of that programming will move to HBO Max and other series may live on CNN.com, according to the person familiar with the changes. Some new talent may assume roles on CNN’s linear station, they said, but Licht will make those determinations in the coming weeks.

In an internal memo, Licht told CNN+ employees they will “continue to be paid and receive benefits for the next 90 days to explore opportunities at CNN, CNN Digital and elsewhere in the Warner Bros. Discovery family. At the end of that period, any departing CNN+ employee will receive a minimum of six-month severance (depending on length of service at CNN).”

Warner Bros. Discovery leadership wants to use CNN programming to bolster a larger streaming bundle that will combine the best of WarnerMedia and Discovery, as CNBC has previously reported.

On March 29, outgoing WarnerMedia Chief Executive Officer Jason Kilar said in a series of tweets that CNN+ was “as important to the mission of CNN as the linear channel service has been these past 42 years. It would be hard to overstate how important this moment is for CNN.”

One month later, nearly to the day, CNN+ will cease to exist.