President Donald Trump has broken his silence on the failure of the Chris Wallace-led CNN Plus after the network bosses decided to pull the plug on Thursday.
The failed CNN streaming service was shut down just one month after its doomed launch.
Trump offered his congratulations on the decision to fold the network for lack of ratings.
Trump said: “Congratulations to CNN+ on their decision to immediately FOLD for a lack of ratings, or viewers in any way, shape, or form.
“It was like an empty desert out there despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars and the hiring of low-rated Chris Wallace, a man who tried so hard to be his father, Mike, but lacked the talent and whatever else is necessary to be a star.
“In any event, it’s just one more piece of CNN and Fake News that we don’t have to bother with anymore!”
Warner Bros. Discovery, the new owners of CNN, axed on CNN+ with a shutdown date of April 30.
NEW!
President Donald J. Trump:
“Congratulations to CNN+ on their decision to immediately FOLD for a lack of ratings, or viewers in any way, shape, or form. It was like an empty desert out there despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars and the hiring of… pic.twitter.com/9sgoDtaOak
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) April 21, 2022
Chris Licht, the incoming CEO of CNN, said in a statement:
“This decision is in line with WBD’s broader direct-to-consumer strategy in a complex streaming market, consumers want simplicity and an all-in service, which provides a better experience and more value than stand-alone offerings.
“As we become Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN will be strongest as part of WBD’s streaming strategy which envisions news as an important part of a compelling broader offering along with sports, entertainment, and nonfiction content.
“We have therefore made the decision to cease operations of CNN+ and focus our investment on CNN’s core news-gathering operations and in further building CNN Digital.
“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.
“But our customers and CNN will be best served with a simpler streaming choice.”
“Consumers are the center of our strategy,’’ WB Discovery’s streaming chief JB Perrette said in a statement.
“In a complex streaming market, consumers want simplicity and an all-in service which provides a better experience and more value than stand-alone offerings, and, for the company, a more sustainable business model to drive our future investments in great journalism and storytelling.
“We have very exciting opportunities ahead in the streaming space and CNN, one of the world’s premier reputational assets, will play an important role there.’’
…low-rated Chris Wallace, a man who tried so hard to be his father, Mike, but lacked the talent and whatever else is necessary to be a star. In any event, it’s just one more piece of CNN and Fake News that we don’t have to bother with anymore!”
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) April 21, 2022
The journalists I have been privileged to work with on CNN Plus are world class
I am so incredibly proud to be able to call them colleagues
If your organization would like a chance to benefit from their talents, my DMs are open
This is *my* job for the foreseeable future
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) April 21, 2022
From CNN Business:
CNN+, the streaming service that was hyped as one of the most significant developments in the history of CNN, will shut down on April 30, just one month after it launched.
The decision was made by new management after CNN’s former parent company, WarnerMedia, merged with Discovery to form Warner Bros. Discovery.
David Zaslav, the chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery, has said that he wants to house all of the company’s brands under one streaming service. Some CNN+ programming may eventually live on through that service.
Hundreds of CNN+ staffers were notified of the decision in a meeting on Thursday afternoon.
