A total of $300 million has already been invested into CNN+, which attracts only 10,000 viewers per day.
If my math is correct, CNN+ paid $30,000 per viewer. If my math is incorrect, I went to public schools.
The stated goal was to invest a total of $1 billion — with a “B” — into CNN+, which would basically mean that these arrogant narcissists intended to spend a cool billion dollars to attract about 25,000 daily viewers.
As of right now, CNN+ is looking like a bigger failure than Quibi. Remember Quibi? Quibi came from the genius mind of Jeffrey Katzenberg. Launched in April of 2020 (in the heat of the pandemic) for $7.99 per month, Quibi offered short-form streaming content. So, basically, Quibi wanted people to pay a monthly fee for what they get for free on YouTube. Before the end of the year, and to the surprise of no one who resides in reality, Quibi was shut down.
In the history of worst ideas, Quibi used to be number one. But at least when Quibi shut down, it had something to show for its short life: a handful of television shows now available on Roku.
The stupidity around CNN+ is simply mind-boggling.
To begin with, CNN+ — as I mentioned Tuesday — doesn’t even offer CNN. You can’t stream the 24/7 news channel on CNN+. So CNN+ is not CNN+. There’s no plus. Actually, there’s no CNN at CNN+. Instead, you get a bunch of shows hosted by smug liars no one watches over at regular CNN. But unlike Quibi, the shows on CNN+ have no shelf life. They’re shows based on current events. Does anyone go back and watch old newscasts or episodes of Entertainment Tonight or reruns of Geraldo?
Already there are reports that Warner Bros. Discovery, which just took the helm at CNN in a big merger, intends to cut future investments into CNN+ by hundreds of millions of dollars. My guess is that CNN+ is doomed and will be integrated with HBOMax or something. Once there, most of the shows will be canceled. Tee hee.
One piece of news that should make righteous men everywhere feel happy is that Chris Wallace is reportedly very unhappy at CNN+ and is threatening to walk if he’s not moved over to CNNLOL into Chris “Fredo” Cuomo’s old timeslot. If the reports are true, Wallace can see the writing on the wall. He knows no one is watching his stupid CNN+ show, and CNN+’s days are numbered.
In a fit of virtue-signaling, Wallace left Fox News late last year to sell his soul to disgraced former CNN chief Jeff Zucker. Well, a few months later, Zucker was fired, which must have caused Wallace to fill his underwear with panic. After all, just a few months after Wallace stomped off a lucrative Sunday morning perch, the guy who was supposed to protect him was gone. And now Wallace is working on a streaming service with cable access-level ratings, which means his career could disappear entirely. Tee hee.
Wallace wasn’t the only one who left a great broadcasting job to offer Zucker his soul. So did NBC’s Kasie Hunt. Tee hee.
As dishonest and corrupt as they both are, Wallace and Hunt are not stupid. They must also have personal management teams to help with major career decisions. So what were they thinking, throwing it all away for CNN+? No one watches CNN for free. So what made them think enough people would pay for CNN+ (that doesn’t even offer CNN) to make such a drastic move worthwhile?
Well, Jeff Zucker is the devil, and whatever the devil promised them worked, and they sold their souls. But then Zucker was fired in disgrace, and now both Hunt and Wallace are proving they cannot draw flies, much less subscribers.
Tee hee.
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