Warner Bros. Discovery decided to pull the plug on CNN+ less than a month after the costly streaming service was launched, sparking widespread ridicule and confusion among critics and insiders, but one CNN+ host insisted it may have been a success.
âI defy you to find any reasonable person who ever believed that viewers would pay extra money for the dregs of CNN when it was competing for their wallets with Netflix and Disney Plus,â a former CNN producer told Fox News Digital. âDo you want to watch âThe Mandalorianâ or extra Brian Stelter?â
Most onlookers consider Warner Bros. Discovery shutting down CNN+ less than a month after launching the service that reportedly cost roughly $300 million to be a disaster, but CNNâs media correspondent Brian Stelter isnât so sure.
âItâs too early to know if this product, if this service, was a success or a failure,â Stelter said on Fridayâs edition of âReliable Sources Dailyâ on the soon-to-be shuttered platform.
âYouâve got all the haters today saying this thing was a failure. I donât know if we can even ever assess that because it just simply didnât have enough time because of the managementâs change in direction,â he said.
Stelter, one of several CNN hosts who also hosted a show on the short-lived platform, has dismissed CNN+ failing due to a âcrazy clash of strategies,â as CNN president Jeff Zucker and former WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar clearly had a different vision from the post-merger regime of Warner Bros. Discovery executives, who want the companyâs streaming assets to be housed in one place.
CNN+ was largely the brainchild of Zucker, who was forced to resign earlier this year,…