Big cuts coming for CNN+ after slow start

CNN+ boss Andrew Morse during the CNN+ Launch Event. Photo: Monica Schipper/Getty Images for CNN+

Investment and projections for CNN+ are expected to be cut dramatically in response to a low adoption rate, two sources tell Axios.

By the numbers: The news giant was initially planning to invest around $1 billion in the service over the next four years.

Hundreds of millions of dollars are expected to be cut from that original investment total.
To date, around $300 million has been spent on the subscription service, which includes a sizable marketing investment.
The new company's leadership team still has yet to decide the ultimate fate of CNN+. CNN's new boss, Chris Licht, will start May 1.

Details: CNN executives, with help from consulting firm McKinsey,originally expected to bring in around 2 million subscribers in the U.S. in the service's first year and 15-18 million after four years.

They originally planned for the service to break even after four years.
Much of the subscriber opportunity executives see comes from international markets.
Sources say those subscriber expectations will need to be dramatically reduced if investment is cut.

Yes, but: In the U.S. yesterday, CNN launched on Roku, one of the largest smart TV companies in the country — which should help boost subscriber numbers.

Between the lines: Hiring has been frozen at WarnerMedia for the past six weeks, and this has been felt at CNN.

One top executive notes that there is a sense of confusion internally as to why CNN didn’t push back the launch of CNN+ until after the Discovery merger.
The launch felt rushed in order to stake a claim over the service and the network's future ahead of the merger, the source said.

What's next: It's unclear whether top CNN+ executives, like CNN+ boss Andrew Morse, will continue to stay with the company if resources for the service are dramatically reduced or cut.

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