CNN+ debuts at end of March

CNN+ will debut on March 29 in the United States. The new streaming service will be available for purchase at $5.99 per month or $59.99 per year. Early subscribers that sign up within the first four weeks after March 29 will receive a special promotion of 50% off the monthly plan – for life – as long as they remain subscribers.

CNN+ was announced in July 2021 with the plan to launch around this time. The product offers subscribers three types of content: live, on-demand and interactive programming.

“We’re excited for everyone to experience CNN+ and see what we’ve been working on,” said Alex MacCallum, general manager for CNN+, in a statement today. “We have a really compelling content offering with CNN’s world class journalists and are confident in the product offered at this compelling price.”
 

CNN will have a single CNN app that will offer access to both CNN+ and TV experiences, with navigation between the two. CNN+ customers can use the app for streaming. And Pay TV customers can use the app to watch CNN’s linear TV feeds of CNN, CNN International and HLN as well as on-demand shows, which will be available exclusively to pay TV customers.

Industry consultant Alan Wolk has noted that CNN+ is debuting at an ideal time with all the news related to Russia and Ukraine. And while CBS and NBC both have their own free news services, and ABC News has its 24-hour service on Hulu, those are less 24/7 news channels than a mix of some live news programming and repackaged clips, while CNN+ promises to be primarily news reporting and original programming.

CNN’s main competitor Fox News has a paid app called Fox Nation that veers in the other direction — mostly talk shows with conservative hosts and documentaries and network reruns.