CNN+ Appears to be DOA, Warner Bros. Discovery Suspends All External Marketing Spend

CNN+ appears to have been doomed from the start according to a new report from Axios.

Warner Brothers Discovery has apparently pulled all external market spending for CNN+.

They’ve also laid off the longtime chief financial officer for CNN.

CNN+ launched on march 29, and has only managed a mere 150,000 subscribers thus far.

At this point, it looks as if CNN+ will probably be absorbed by HBO Max.

Poor Chris Wallace must be having a rough time with this news…

SCOOP: CNN+ looks doomed.

Warner Bros. Discovery has suspended all external marketing spend for CNN+ and has laid off CNN's longtime CFO as it weighs what to do with it moving forward. https://t.co/3s9LRXImDT

— Axios (@axios) April 19, 2022

Axios has the inside scoop:

Warner Bros. Discovery has suspended all external marketing spend for CNN+ and has laid off CNN’s longtime chief financial officer as it weighs what to do with the subscription streaming service moving forward, five sources tell Axios.

Why it matters: Inside CNN, executives think the launch has been successful. Discovery executives disagree.

CNN+ has roughly 150,000 subscribers so far.

Warner Bros. Discovery wants to eventually build one giant service around HBO Max.

New leadership has replaced CNN CFO Brad Ferrer with Neil Chugani, Discovery’s current CFO for streaming and international, as part of a broader finance team restructuring.

Other high-level positions at WarnerMedia across different business functions are likely to be eliminated to cut costs and streamline leadership in coming weeks.

*CNN+ IS DOOMED* https://t.co/FRaT7GlOBf

— Sean Hannity 🇺🇸 (@seanhannity) April 20, 2022

ICYMI: "Scoop: CNN+ looks doomed"https://t.co/aZaZGD5A6G pic.twitter.com/2lrHAenX2C

— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) April 20, 2022

Chris Wallace may retire!https://t.co/RrYhcnrs5h

— Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) April 20, 2022

CNN Plus? More like CNN bust.

— Nick Adams (Alpha Male) (@NickAdamsinUSA) April 13, 2022

I'd say CNNplus is DOA but I'd be calling the results too early. https://t.co/ZMdj8iss1S

— GregGutfeld (@greggutfeld) April 12, 2022

CNN+ is drawing 10,000 viewers a day. That’s only 200 viewers per state. It doesn’t mean they’re actually watching #CNNPlus; they’re just subscribed.

If people want garbage programming, regular #CNN provides it for free.

I’m a happy man, and I can find joy in little things.🤣

— China’s Deflated Balloon (@RickJoh44846997) April 13, 2022

'Doomed' CNN+ is 'under review' after just 150,000 signed up https://t.co/c2g2UQGv8F via @MailOnline

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) April 20, 2022

Daily Mail with more on CNN’s latest failure, including the ousting of now-former CNN chief financial officer Brad Ferrer:

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CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, which formed through a merger earlier this month, has slashed all external marketing spending for the fledgling CNN+ service, Axios reported on Tuesday.

And as WBD moves to cut up to $3 billion in costs by eliminating redundancies in the newly combined company, CNN’s chief financial officer Brad Ferrer has also been ousted and further high-level positions are on the chopping block, the outlet reported.

A spokeswoman for CNN+ did not immediately respond to an inquiry from DailyMail.com on Tuesday evening.

CNN+ launched on March 29, just weeks before the April 8 closing of the $43 billion merger between Discovery and CNN parent company WarnerMedia, which spun out of AT&T.

The hasty launch was seen by some observers as a move to preserve turf and budgets for the streaming service, which CNN had originally planned to turn profitable within four years by investing $1 billion into its growth.

But the early subscriber numbers have been less than promising, with just 150,000 paying customers so far, according to Axios.