CNN+ Shortfalls Prompt Network to Reduce Investment

CNN is expected to dramatically lower investment and projections for its new streaming service, CNN+, after a less than stellar launch, according to Axios.

CNBC reports that CNN+ has less than 10,000 daily users about two weeks after launch. Sources told Axios that the news network will likely cut its initial investment of $1 billion spread over four years by hundreds of millions of dollars. The network has spent a reported $300 million on the streaming service, including a large marketing campaign.

"We continue to be happy with the launch and its progress after only two weeks," a CNN spokesperson told CNBC.

According to Axios, CNN executives had expected for the subscription service to amass about 2 million users over its first year, with anywhere from 15-18 million subscribers after four years, by which point CNN+ was expected to break even.

David Zaslav, the CEO of CNN's parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, has yet to comment on the long-term expectations for CNN+, according to CNBC. He told the network earlier this year that he wants to see how the service performs before making any decisions on its future.

"I haven't gotten a business review on what CNN+ is going to be and how it's going to be offered," Zaslav said in February.

According to Jon Nicosia, of NewsCycleMedia, "SOURCE: Chris Wallace is "having daily breakdowns" over the "miserable launch" of @CNNplus. Wants a "CNN show or is threatening to walk" they go on. "He is having staffers count how many times a day his promo is playing"

Former WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, who moved forward with the launch of CNN+ ahead of his company's merger with Discovery, told CNN that subscriber numbers were beyond his expectations but did not specify what those were.

"It's ahead of my expectations in terms of where the subscribers are, the engagement, the receptiveness that we're getting in terms of people's response to the journalists of CNN+," Kilar said earlier this month, during his last week in his post. "I couldn't be more proud of that team."