This past week, Warner Bros. Discovery pulled the plug on CNN+ less than a month since it launched. CNN+ anchor Chris Wallace was one of the marquee names that came over to be a part of the content on the streaming platform.
During a Common Ground Committee live-streamed event on “Media, Politics, and Polarization,” moderator Jacqueline Adams brought up the “elephant in the room,” asking him what led to the decision to ax CNN+.
“The idea was you’ve got to get a foothold in the streaming world because that’s where the future of news off the mainstream networks is going to be,” Wallace said, per Mediaite.
“Now you have some equally smart people that have come in with a diametrically opposed view; these are the new bosses at CNN+ because of [the Warner Bros. Discovery merger] who have come to the conclusion that to have a narrow niche product like a news streaming service doesn’t work.”
Adams then asked Wallace what the future holds for him when the streaming service ceases to exist on April 30th. Nonetheless, a recent report suggests that the former Fox News anchor could be seeing his show head to CNN.
“I mean my gosh, Jackie, it just happened on Thursday. Give me a couple days,” Wallace said. “I will say this; I am going to be fine. I’m in good shape whether it’s at CNN or someplace else.”
“Frankly, what I’m mostly concerned about right now and very, is my team and the hundreds of other people. Because, you know, there were 300 people I think that had jobs at CNN+. Some of them had left CNN to go to streaming, some of them had left other places, moved across the country.”
Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.
