Posted on 04/18/2024 2:47:52 AM PDT by Libloather
CNN’s new boss said the network faces an “existential crisis” because of cord cutting — and that he plans to eventually pivot away from cable TV toward a subscription-based streaming model similar to YouTube and TikTok.
“There are plenty of things we have to fix at CNN,” Mark Thompson, the former New York Times and BBC executive who was hired by Warner Bros. Discovery to dig CNN out of its third-place slump in the cable news race, told Financial Times.
He also hinted that more cost-cutting measures are in the offing, saying that there are “likely to be significant opportunities for de-duplication of parallel organizations and structures and activities.”
“I think we can and should be looking for ways of doing what we do both better, but also doing it less expensively,” Thompson said.
The ex-BBC director general has a tall task — turning around CNN that has struggled to keep up in the ratings with Fox News and MSNBC.
Thompson said he was looking at distributing CNN content through smartphones and other devices in a shift to mostly digital — mimicking his tenure as head of The New York Times Company.
“The idea that there might be digital subscription is a serious possibility,” Thompson told FT when asked about his plans for CNN.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
If they switch to streaming only platform, won’t they loose out on their lucrative contract to be shown in all airports? What about their share of cable/satellite subscription fees for basic service?
This is the only thing that is keeping them afloat financially.
As that putz Wallace how that worked out for him after he left Fox News for those greener streaming pastures
CNN Airport (not the same as at-home CNN) shut down in 2021. Can’t compete with wifi or cell data.
That’s awesome news. Thank you!
BTW, CNN paid the airports to show it. It was a cash drain.
MSP airport in Minnesota was getting paid $200k per year. No way that made sense for CNN, business-wise.
“I never click on Russell Brand”
Who is that and how did his name enter the conversation?
They know perfectly well what they’re doing that their (ex-)customers don’t like. The angst is over their inability to sell the current mess and their unwillingness to change it. In short, they’re stupid.
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