CNN is preparing to launch a new digital subscription service later this year — but it will not feature the one thing the cable news network made its name on: news.
CEO Mark Thompson said CNN will debut a “non-news digital product” in 2025 that focuses on features and lifestyle content, although it may also be “heavy in information.” Thompson made the comment in a Financial Times story published on Tuesday.
“We’re beginning to build out a suite of digital products, principally with a subscription thesis,” he added.
This is not the first time this digital subscription product has been mentioned by Thompson; he initially teased the upcoming and unnamed service in July 2024. But the focus on non-news content stands out, and appears to be a bit of a pivot, after he said last year the new service would “provide need-to-know news” and highlight “CNN’s massive strength in video and anchoring/reporting talent.”
The 45-year-old cable news channel is looking for new ways to pull in viewers and readers as its audience has dwindled in recent years. CNN’s ratings cratered in the weeks following the 2024 presidential election, with its primetime ratings dropping 35% to 470,000 viewers by mid-November.
Its ratings have rebounded some since then — CNN averaged 591,000 primetime viewers between January and March. But CNN was still well behind its two cable news competitors during the first quarter, with Fox News averaging 3.13 million primetime viewers and MSNBC averaging 1.18 million.
Thompson also told FT the “entire industry is going through a revolution,” but said he felt CNN had some “interesting ideas” that would entice subscribers down the line. And there is one thing that seems like a safe bet with CNN’s upcoming digital product: it will likely last longer than CNN+, the streaming service that was shut down in 2022 just three weeks after launching.
