Warner Bros. Discovery plans to shut down the streaming service CNN+ just weeks after its widely advertised launch, CNN itself reported Thursday.
Chris Licht, the incoming president of CNN, held an all-hands meeting Thursday afternoon to share the news with hundreds of CNN+ staff. Licht had already informed CNN Executive Vice President Andrew Morse, who oversees the recently launched service, according to Variety.
The digital service is set to shut down on April 30, according to The New York Times. CNN confirmed the date soon after.
The decision was made after CNN’s former parent company, WarnerMedia, merged with Discovery to form Warner Bros. Discovery. CEO David Zaslav has said that he wants to house all of the company’s brands, including Discovery+ and HBO Max, under one streaming service.
According to Variety, Zaslav was annoyed from the beginning when former WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar made the decision to launch CNN+ just weeks before Discovery was set to merge with the company.
CNN+ was heavily advertised ahead of its launch, and spent hundreds of millions of dollars to hire staff and marquee names. Under former President Jeff Zucker, CNN hired a number of stars to join the streaming service, including former Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, former NPR co-host Audie Cornish and former NBC correspondent Kasie Hunt.
Morse will reportedly leave the company after a transition period. Alex MacCallum was named to oversee CNN’s digital side, and CNN+ employees will reportedly be paid for the next 90 days and be given opportunities to explore other positions at the network.
