CNN+ Streaming Service, Shuttered After Less Than A Month, Is Mourned And Mocked In Memes

CNN's streaming service, dubbed CNN+, was shuttered this week after less than a month in existence. The network’s new online streaming platform reportedly lost over $300 million and garnered less than 10,000 subscribers in its brief life.

TFW they make you write your own obituary:#CNNPlus pic.twitter.com/30TluM88KK

— Prison Mitch (@MidnightMitch) April 21, 2022

cnn it is not too late u can do both https://t.co/vVsGSpARuF

— darth™ (@darth) April 22, 2022

Today's news marks the end of an experiment in streaming news content. It’s quite possible that the death of CNN+ has to do with the recent Warner Bros. (the parent company of CNN) and Discovery merger — apparently, management at Discovery was not happy with the performance of CNN+ or the business plan put forward. Jeff Zucker, the former president of CNN who originally championed CNN+, also left the company in February.

#CNNPlusHow it started. How it’s going. pic.twitter.com/yfQYg6vhsO

— Stephen 🕊🇺🇦🌻 (@GoldBytes) April 18, 2022

Many on social media networks like Twitter expressed empathy for the roughly 350 out of about 700 employees of CNN+ who were laid off.

my heart goes out to all of the CNN+ employees who left jobs to work there, and are now worrying about their futures. what a crappy situation.

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 21, 2022

Others, notably on the right (which has in recent years defined CNN largely as an enemy) backlashed against expressions of support for former CNN+ employees.

I’m seeing a lot of “don’t make fun of CNN+ shutting down – people lost their jobs!” from the same people who were all too happy to see small businesses locked down, people lose their livelihood, and millions of employees deemed non-essential who had to provide for their families

— Gina Bontempo (@FlorioGina) April 22, 2022

In turn, even more people online then backlashed that backlash, insisting that commentators take into account the human toll of the CNN+ failure.

Cheering the failure of CNN+, however you feel about the idea behind it, is gross. Lots of people are losing their jobs. The high-priced hosts will be fine, but folks who are just trying to make a living in an industry that already pays shit wages… this sucks for them.

— Sam Stein (@samstein) April 21, 2022

Aside from political bickering over CNN+'s demise, the service’s extremely brief life span was a common theme in many memes over the last two days.

Things that lasted longer than CNN+ pic.twitter.com/FXQk0Cevl6

— Erin Perrine (@ErinMPerrine) April 21, 2022

CNN+ didn’t even last as long as Jeffrey Toobin during a Zoom meeting

— Jordan Chamberlain (@jordylancaster) April 21, 2022

To put this into perspective, #CNNPlus had about the same lifespan as the average housefly pic.twitter.com/aPIvSw5SdT

— Jenna Rayne (@thejennarayne_) April 21, 2022

Some also speculated about the reaction of Chris Wallace, the high-profile former Fox News anchor who quit his job at Fox to join CNN+.

If you think you're having a bad day, imagine being Chris Wallace who left Fox to be the star of CNN+ and CNN+ immediately failed. 🤣🤣🤣

— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) April 21, 2022

Conservatives seemed satisfied by the failure of CNN+, mocking and memeing CNN in droves around social media.

Celebrating the life of CNN+ pic.twitter.com/n0p5KRStgi

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) April 21, 2022

I (0 background in journalism/media) get more impressions within one hour of posting a single tweet than CNN+ had in their entire short existence and that’s without the $300 million in funding 😂. What a spectacular failure. https://t.co/sjEhIMk74P

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 21, 2022

Several commentators online also brought up the role of controversial consulting company McKinsey & Company in CNN+’s death. They argued that an overly optimistic projection by McKinsey led to CNN executives investing too many resources into a project that was doomed to failure. McKinsey has come under fire in the past for its consulting work for clients such as the Chinese and Saudi Arabian governments, Purdue Pharmaceuticals and fossil fuel companies.

If there is one more article about this today, I may actually be hospitalized with schadenfreude overload.How much money did CNN pay McKinsey to convince them that people will pay to watch their hosts that nobody wants to watch for free? https://t.co/fWCwaEnhpQ

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) April 12, 2022

That McKinsey is being blamed for the wildly optimistic CNN+ subscriber projections is a good insight into why companies hire McKinsey

— Matthew Zeitlin (@MattZeitlin) April 21, 2022

4. The role of evil, evil McKinsey can NOT be overstated here. McKinsey--the same firm that suggested pharmacists get REBATES for opioid deaths--charged CNN millions to tell it what someone wanted to hear. Every $ wasted could have gone to paying journalists. pic.twitter.com/HksVXU6poB

— Dr. Thrasher (@thrasherxy) April 21, 2022

“then I told them to expect 10 million subscribers!” – CNN McKinsey consultant pic.twitter.com/UgdBC58z1N

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) April 21, 2022

The failure of CNN+ comes at a moment of change for the streaming industry overall. Netflix recently predicted a decline in subscriptions, causing its stock price to tank. The streaming landscape is becoming increasingly crowded, with new and more specialized providers such as Paramount+ stepping into the market and producing original content. What the early end of CNN+ will mean to a changing industry and society overall remains to be seen.

If you work in political media and you’re cheering on the demise of CNN Plus, I mean, have fun w/ that, but it will likely be your turn soon, given that we work in this dilapidated set of ponzi schemes known as the news industry

— Asawin Suebsaeng (@swin24) April 21, 2022