CNN's Plan for Success for CNN Minus Counted on the Existence of 29 Million "CNN Super Fans," Despite the Failing Propaganda Network Struggling to Reach 900,000 Viewers in Primetime

Comfortably Smug @ComfortablySmug

LMAOOOO so CNN+ executives planned on 29 million "CNN super fans" in order to be successful, even though they average fewer than a million viewers??

The Smartest Guys in the Room.

Just ask them!!!

Why it matters: Discovery's decision to shut down CNN+ last week was driven in part by skepticism that the subscription service would ever hit profitability within a reasonable time frame, given current spend levels and subscriber numbers.

Versions of that March pitch deck were presented to executives at CNN, WarnerMedia and eventually Discovery.

The big picture: Financial projections were based on internal CNN+ research that assumed CNN+ could one day attract nearly 30 million global subscriptions from a total addressable market of roughly 72 million people.

Executives bucketed CNN+'s potential audience into three groups, with various models of overlap:

29 million "CNN super fans."

24 million "news and non-fiction SVOD (subscription video on demand) fans."

36 million "global news consumers" (people who already paid for a news subscription).

CNN+ research estimated that 70% of CNN+ subscribers could be bundled with HBO Max over time.

29 million "CNN super fans," despite having barely ever cracked one million viewers in more than a year.

What was CNN smoking, drugs!?!

Between the lines: Conversations with nearly a dozen CNN and CNN+ employees suggest executives believed a subscription service would eventually serve as an off-ramp for CNN's linear TV network, even if the short-term appetite was mixed.

Did I just spot a buried lede? Are CNN executives admitting that CNN itself is doomed and that an "off-ramp" is required?

I think I did!

In a way, that's not such a huge revelation; many people say cable itself is doomed. Hence the push to get to streaming -- or, really, to get to a form of streaming which just reduplicates the exact same crap experience of cable, making the entire point of "cutting the cable," well, pointless.

I remember when I cut the cable and I had all these options to sign up for... well, for cable services that would be delivered through my cable service. You know-- just like cable.

I said "No." I said, "No, I don't want this, I'm trying to get away from this, take all of this away from me now."

But anyway, yes, people think cable only has about a decade left.

It is still interesting to hear CNN executives admitting that Donald Trump is right -- CNN is in fact "dying CNN."

Internal research for CNN+ from a May 2021 research document obtained by Axios shows the value proposition for a paid news video service was never clear for consumers, who were increasingly suffering from news fatigue.

"We did not hear a self-declared appetite for more premium live news shows from any of our personas," the research concluded, based on 18 one-hour interviews with potential CNN+ customers.

"Personas."

personas more like durrr-sonas am i rite

Yes, but: While one CNN source says that research -- which was distributed widely within CNN -- was eventually dismissed as inaccurate, another said it shows why employees outside of the CNN+ team were skeptical of the service.

CNN got some news they didn't like and immediately dismissed it as Fake News.

Color me unsurprised.

"Even if it was a raving success externally, internally, people were always going to be resentful," one source noted.

What? Now they're saying... they pulled the plug on us because They Wuz Just Jelly?

Are you literally all tweenage girls?

In the most recent pitch deck presented to executives, CNN+'s research concluded that "consumer willingness to pay for news is increasing."

They decided the news that said people had news fatigue was Fake News and came up with some new "news" that said people were just so hungry for news they'd pay even more for it.

Gee it seems that the first news, the news that CNN decided was "Fake News," was the accurate news.

...

Others complained that spending on CNN+ studios and supplies felt ad hoc compared to rigid budgets for CNN's TV division.

They spent 300 fucking million dollars on sets and "supplies" for Cooking Shows, shoot-the-breeze chat shows, and Jake Tapper's Book Club. "Rigid budgets." Shut the f*** up, whiny pampered pissbabies losers.

Now let's play a fun game called:

Which of CNN's Arrogant, Stupid, Incompetent, Corrupt Executives Are Going to Survive This Bloody Culling?

They rushed CNN Minus to market despite getting strong signals from Discovery that they didn't want it, seeking to get Discovery "a little bit pregnant" with a billion dollar baby it never wanted.

What should the new management due about that, do you think?

Plus:

posted by Ace at 01:07 PM

| Access Comments