CNN Eyes Billion-Dollar Digital Future Amid Viewership Decline

[Social Media]

 

CNN is setting its sights on a major digital overhaul as it navigates a turbulent period for traditional media, with CEO Mark Thompson unveiling plans to roll out new subscription services aimed at reinventing the network’s future. Despite offering limited specifics, Thompson acknowledged the scale of the challenge, describing it as part of a broader transformation gripping the entire news industry.

 

“I don’t think this stuff is easy,” Thompson told The Financial Times in an interview. “Our industry is going through a revolution. The landscape is continuing to go through the stresses and strains of an enormous disruption of audiences and of the media generally.”

 

Thompson, who took the helm at CNN 18 months ago, said the network’s new digital subscription strategy will begin to take shape with one streaming product launching later this year, followed by a second in 2026. His long-term goal is ambitious: building a subscription-based digital business that generates more than $1 billion in annual revenue by the end of the decade.

 

This digital push comes at a time when CNN is under pressure. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, the network brought in $1.7 billion in operating revenue last year, but its viewership continues to decline. In the first quarter of 2025, CNN’s total U.S. audience dropped by about 8%, despite the resurgence of President Donald Trump on the political stage. Competitors have seen mixed results, with MSNBC falling 27% and right-leaning Fox News surging by 48%, according to Nielsen data.

 

 

To support the transformation, CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery has reportedly allocated more than $70 million to Thompson’s effort. The move has raised eyebrows within CNN, particularly since the company shuttered its previous attempt at a subscription service, CNN+, in 2022 shortly after its merger with Discovery. Now, less than two years later, CNN is revisiting the same concept under Thompson’s direction.

 

Thompson, who successfully spearheaded a digital transformation at The New York Times, has offered only a glimpse of what CNN’s first new product will look like. He described it as a “non-news digital product, though it might be heavy in information.” The service, which will debut in the U.S. before expanding internationally, is expected to include lifestyle content and other features beyond traditional news. Early attempts to implement paywalls for CNN’s news reporting remain in development.

 

Insiders speculate that Thompson may follow a strategy similar to what he used at The Times, where he launched successful subscription products focused on cooking, games, and wellness — offerings that broadened the brand’s appeal beyond hard news.

 

Despite the network’s current struggles, Thompson has remained candid about CNN’s position. He previously told staff that CNN is “nowhere near ready for the future,” a sobering acknowledgment of the headwinds facing the cable news model as audiences shift to streaming and digital platforms.

Compounding the challenge is CNN’s complicated relationship with Trump, who has often accused the network of biased coverage. Thompson has urged CNN journalists to approach Trump’s potential second term with balance. Earlier this year, he encouraged staff to report “objectively” and to remain “open-minded” in their political coverage.

 

He reiterated this approach in his interview with The Financial Times, saying, “CNN’s job is to report on the government of the day in whichever country it is” in an “accurate,” “fair-minded” way that “doesn’t labor under its own prejudices of biases and doesn’t shy away from holding power to account.” He added, “We shouldn’t slip into the idea that part of our job is to oppose political forces as such. Our job is to cover the political contest, rather than to head into the ring and start throwing punches ourselves.”

 

As CNN moves forward under Thompson’s leadership, it faces a defining test: whether it can successfully pivot to digital while preserving the journalistic values that made it a legacy brand in the first place.

 

Based on a report by NYP  2025-04-17

 

 

[johng]

In relation to CNN and other struggling legacy media,they should try actually reporting events in an unbiased ,factual in depth way and perhaps viewers will return   but it will be hard to regain their trust after especially the last few years of narrative peddling,propaganda,

misinformation,gaslighting and downright lies they have spewed.

[sikishrory]

Aww woe is me.

If they reported truth with integrity, respect and without their own bias maybe they would be doing better. 

That's not even an option apparently.

People want news not political propaganda and bs.

[Searat7]

Journalistic values ? These were lost long ago which is why their viewership has fallen so much. When I first started living in Thailand 20 years ago I always looked forward to watching CNN. Not any more…largely FAKE NEWS. How can they think people will pay for subscriptions !

[WDSmart]

I just hope they keep broadcasting on TV. They are my main source of news.

[KhunLA]

1 minute ago, WDSmart said:

I just hope they keep broadcasting on TV. They are my main source of news.

That explains quite a bit ... 

[renaissanc]

CNN is in decline because it propagates fake news. They have Trump Derangement Syndrome,  tell lies, and won't say what is really happening unless it fits their anti-Trump narrative. Only fools watch CNN for news. They even support open borders, terrorists, human trafficking, and transgenders in women's sports.

[impulse]

10 hours ago, johng said:

In relation to CNN and other struggling legacy media,they should try actually reporting events in an unbiased ,factual in depth way and perhaps viewers will return   but it will be hard to regain their trust after especially the last few years of narrative peddling,propaganda,

misinformation,gaslighting and downright lies they have spewed.

 

About 5 years ago, Fox replaced CNN on my top 10 news source bookmarks.  CNN is still on the list among about 60 other news sources, but they are waaay down the list.  But still well above MSDNC.

 

[impulse]

8 hours ago, WDSmart said:

I just hope they keep broadcasting on TV. They are my main source of news.

 

As KhunLA stated, That 'splains a lot.

 

[Cryingdick]

11 hours ago, renaissanc said:

CNN is in decline because it propagates fake news. They have Trump Derangement Syndrome,  tell lies, and won't say what is really happening unless it fits their anti-Trump narrative. Only fools watch CNN for news. They even support open borders, terrorists, human trafficking, and transgenders in women's sports.

 

Not necessarily. You can propagate anything you want but you have to make it stuff people want to hear. The far left liberal ranting isn't working. I have noticed more and more lefties and dems popping up on Fox as they know CNN has 3 viewers who already vote for them.

 

I am not saying Fox News adheres to the truth at all times by any means. But they provide a large segment of the population stories they can't get enough of, can be entertaining and have hot chicks for anchors. 

 

Any company just reporting the news in an unbiased and honest way would flop. Start with hot chicks that smile and go from there..

[WDSmart]

21 hours ago, impulse said:

On 4/17/2025 at 9:50 AM, WDSmart said:

I just hope they keep broadcasting on TV. They are my main source of news.

 

As KhunLA stated, That 'splains a lot.

Actually, I just recently started also watching the BBC. I like CNN, but I'm just sick of hearing about Trump, and about 90% of CNN's reporting seems to be about something he's done. The BBC's reporting seems to have less than 50% news regarding Trump. 

[KhunLA]

When you are all about 'fake' news, you lose your audience ...

 

https://www.facebook.com/reel/717183083979608

[johng]

I had my illusions shattered that CNN was impartial whilst I watched a satellite news feed during the gulf war,   a very well known  reporter was "embedded" with the US troops  and before the the live broadcast  on a "hot mike" +video  he said  (something like paraphrasing from memory )

"we really got those rag-heads ey boys" with a big smile  then went on a few moments later to somberly report the military action during the actual live report aired on CNN.