As the network continues in a state of upheaval, parent company Warners Bros. Discovery looks for CNN solutions.

The tremors and aftershocks are still being felt after the tectonic shifts experienced at CNN as a result of the Donald Trump Town hall and then the exit of still-fresh CEO Chris Licht. Currently, the network is recalibrating, with many in front of as well as behind the cameras excited to be freed up to return to their trademark style of reporting – which led to them having years of diminishing ratings.

As those at the network attempt to polish the wreckage, the brass at the top is concerned with harsher realities. This is a news outlet that has been averaging below 500K viewers and recently experienced a weekend with the worst-ever numbers seen in the advertiser’s 4 pm to midnight demo. Whatever excitement/relief the staff is enjoying, the migraines in the executive suites are throbbing.

As a means of exploring solutions, it has been revealed that CNN’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery is looking to bring CNN content over to its streaming service Max. The thought process is that this will, of course, expand the general audience share but also possibly draw the younger viewers who have become digital nomads moving away from cable. 

This proposal is not in any way automatic nor easy to accomplish for a number of reasons.

The first is rather blatant, and that is the echoes this idea has with CNN+, the doomed streaming service that imploded instantly one year ago. That costly experiment did not last one month and was dissolved after hundreds of millions of dollars were poured into that digital chasm. Anything involving CNN and streaming will be tainted, so thoroughly poisoned is that particular well.

A more tangible challenge is just how much the company can use on its platform. What Warner-Discovery has to contend with are the legalities involving cable companies. The network is tied to carriage contracts with those channel providers, which stipulate that they are to be the host of live programming from CNN, and those broadcasts cannot be shared concurrently on other digital formats. 

This was the case with CNN+, where the content was either mostly recorded or curated, or there were original live programs offered which were disconnected from the parent network. This is largely the case with other current network news streaming offerings. CBS News and ABC News offer streaming options that involve dedicated anchors and shows. The same is the case with NBC News NOW, a streaming network connected to its Peacock subscription platform.

When CNN+ met its rapid demise last spring, there had been speculation of possibly migrating some of the shows and talent over to what was then HBO Max. For the most part, this did not take place as the company elected to cut all possible losses, but now there is a chance of reexploring this concept. In overseas markets, live news has already been added to the Max programming packages. 

No matter which direction they decide to go, there will be immediate callbacks to last year’s disastrous attempt. That there is this talk now emerging just after Chris Licht’s ouster might seem timely, but the call to pull the plug on CNN+ was hardly his decision alone. It is doubtful that one man could step in and declare the immediate end to a $300 million outlay; there had to be upper-level talks looking at the expense and the severe lack of supporting subscriptions pointing to years of blood loss ahead.

In a similar fashion, the new attention is on the way audiences have walked away from CNN, and there is a search for solutions. A streaming option may not be a horrible idea, but currently, no other network is exactly lighting up the landscape with its streaming service. At this stage, however, Warner-Discovery needs to do anything that can be regarded as a positive influence on growth.

The employees are currently pumping their fists at the chance to go back to their style of reporting, all while executives are rubbing their temples while facing reality. It’s almost as if the inmates are giddy that their favorite flavors of Jell-O have returned, but the administrators still need to get a handle on the asylum.