CNN reveals launch date, prices for new streaming service
Months after confirming its plans to launch a new premium subscription offering, CNN has announced more details.
On Oct. 28, the Atlanta-founded media organization will launch a new “All Access” subscription tier for $6.99 per month, or $69.99 per year. Subscribers who sign up for an annual plan by Jan. 5 will receive a price of $41.99 for the first year.
In a news release, CNN is billing the tier as the “most complete way to experience CNN within its existing suite of digital products across web, mobile and connected TV apps.”
It’s a centralized destination for all of the organization’s reporting, including multiple livestream channels, hours of content in the CNN Originals library, new episodes of original series the day after their television airing and new on-demand programming. The full schedule and content offering was not disclosed, but it will be available at launch.
Earlier this year, the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed organization announced plans to launch a new offering designed to reach consumers as its traditional television revenues decline and households do away with cable. Further details were scarce, aside from the fact that it would build off the existing subscription product CNN launched last October, which allows users to access CNN.com articles and subscriber-only content for $3.99 per month.
“It’s an essential step in CNN’s evolution as we work to give audiences the complete CNN experience in a format that reflects how audiences engage with the news today,” said Alex MacCallum, CNN Worldwide’s Executive Vice President of Digital Products and Services, in the news release.
The new product comes more than three years after the dissolution of the news organization’s first streaming service, CNN+, which was designed as a bridge to the future amid declining viewership and revenues from the linear television business.
CNN+ was discontinued one month after launching, a casualty of the merger of WarnerMedia with Discovery, which brought with it a $50 billion debt load and an urgency to cut costs. Chris Licht, the former CEO of CNN, said at the time the decision was in line with Warner Bros. Discovery’s direct-to-consumer strategy, and that consumers wanted simplicity and an all-in service instead of stand-alone offerings.
The new streaming tier will also launch during a period of change for CNN. Parent company WBD plans to split itself into two publicly traded companies. One will house its cable television businesses, which includes CNN, and the other will include its more profitable studio and streaming operations. The split is expected to be completed by April 2026.
About the Author
Savannah Sicurella is an entertainment business reporter with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
