Employees at CNN’s new streaming service, CNN+, are reportedly bracing themselves for layoffs in the upcoming months due to low subscription numbers, Fox Business senior correspondent Charles Gasparino reported Wednesday.
The network announced the launching of their streaming platform Tuesday, but it was soon reported that layoffs could occur as early as May. The channel could also be merged into the platform Discovery Plus unless the number of subscriptions increase, according to Gasparino.
“@CNNplus employees bracing for layoffs possibly as soon as May amid projections of lackluster sales of new streaming channel; CNN employees say new streaming channel could be merged into larger @discoveryplus as early as May unless subscriptions pick up to 130,” Gasparino tweeted. (RELATED: Trump’s Most Hated Networks See ‘Profound’ Drop In Ratings)
Breaking: @CNNplus employees bracing for layoffs possibly as soon as May amid projections of lackluster sales of new streaming channel; CNN employees say new streaming channel could be merged into larger @discoveryplus as early as May unless subscriptions pick up 130 @FoxBusiness
— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) March 30, 2022
The new streaming service will play live and on-demand shows from the network’s hosts like Anderson Cooper and Poppy Harlow, as well as former Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, basketball player Rex Chapman and radio host Audie Cornish.
Today’s a historic day for us as we launch #CNNPlus, our streaming platform that brings you the stories of our world anytime you want. What was a recent newsworthy first for you?
— CNN+ (@CNNplus) March 29, 2022
Wallace joined the new platform after departing from Fox News in December. In a newly released New York Times interview, he revealed that his former employer’s shift in encouraging former President Donald Trump’s election fraud claims made working at the network “unsustainable.”
“I’m fine with opinion: conservative opinion, liberal opinion. But when people start to question the truth — who won the 2020 election? Was Jan. 6 an insurrection? — I found that unsustainable. I spent a lot of 2021 looking to see if there was a different place for me to do my job.”