CNN’s Digital Headwinds

In May, as CNN pitched a new streaming service as part of its shift to a digital-first future, the network also announced plans for a standalone CNN Weather app by the end of the year and expand the network’s lifestyle ambitions. But as the calendar turns toward the New Year, the offering has yet to hit the app store for public consumption.

While CNN launched its new direct-to-consumer streaming service in October—offering live video feeds that closely mirror the linear network—the weather app arrived far more quietly. The product entered beta around the same time and is now being actively tested by users across the country, though internal access remains largely limited to the weather and product teams, according to a person familiar with CNN’s digital strategy. The muted rollout was due in part to engineering resources being diverted to ensure the streaming app launched smoothly in the fall, the person said.

A CNN spokesperson said the weather product is “in beta for consumer testing,” and is now set to launch sometime in 2026.

It’s been over two years since Mark Thompson was named CNN chairman and chief executive, acknowledging that the network needed to move rapidly to adapt to the changing media ecosystem as consumers gravitate toward digital platforms. Yet the weather app and other initiatives touted as part of the network’s broader digital transformation have been slow to arrive, and largely amounted to repackaging existing assets rather than introducing wholly new consumer experiences.

That gap between ambition and execution has fueled quiet skepticism inside and outside the company about how quickly CNN can realistically evolve—a process that takes on additional urgency with its corporate future now in doubt. As many will recall, CNN had embarked on the launch of its own streaming service, CNN+, in 2022, only to see new management shut it down after less than a month.

In January 2024, Thompson argued that CNN “has been slow to respond to the challenge” of adapting for the future in a memo to staffers, adding that new leadership would “move as quickly as possible to a point where it becomes redundant.” The network has repeatedly emphasized the need to expand beyond breaking political news into lifestyle, health, and climate-oriented product offerings that could attract both younger audiences and advertisers wary of polarizing political news. 

But more than two years into his tenure, the rollout of those initiatives has been incremental, raising questions about whether CNN’s digital transformation has progressed quickly enough to keep pace with the broader industry and prepare the organization as cable dwindles in both revenue and reach.

The launch of CNN’s direct-to-consumer subscription offering this fall, which is pacing ahead of its internal goals, according to the network though it declined to release firm figures, saw the biggest bump in new subscribers on Election Day. In a memo to staff ahead of the holidays, Thompson touted the digital subscription business and “significant new lines of revenue” across the network. CNN is ending the year “trending well ahead of our profit goals for 2025,” he wrote.

The network is already using the offering to provide consumers with softer content, securing a partnership with Variety to stream the Hollywood trade publication’s popular “Actors on Actors” series. CNN also cited the streaming subscription offering as a driving force in the network’s digital platforms, which saw 122 million average monthly unique visitors globally, and ranked No. 1 in the U.S. for the tenth year in a row, with 94 million monthly unique users. 

Seeking more paying customers, the network is already running a New Year’s Eve deal for new subscribers, reducing the price of its new streaming service by 50% off for all of 2026. Still, beyond the subscription offering, CNN has yet to roll out substantial lifestyle-oriented digital products at scale as promised.

During WBD’s upfront presentation in 2024, Thompson argued that “climate solutions and extreme weather will be a very interesting vertical, as well as health and wellness,” with the newsgathering resources from the linear channel already in-house. The network also expressed its intention to “double down” on travel content.

The pattern of repackaging existing assets has been evident in podcasting as well. Earlier this year, CNN rebranded CNN Audio as CNN Podcasts, framing the change internally as a renewed commitment to the medium. But the shift has yet to translate into meaningful audience traction. A recent scan of the top 200 programs on Apple Podcasts does not include a single CNN title. At the current moment, it is looking increasingly like the rebrand amounted largely to a change in name rather than a significant expansion of original offerings or chart performance.

Together, these gradual shifts underscore the challenge facing Thompson’s digital strategy, translating strong brand recognition into products that can compete in an increasingly crowded marketplace. And ultimately, the speed at which these plans are executed has become critical with the clock on CNN’s next chapter, and who’ll be flipping the pages, already ticking.

The latest episode of Power Lines is out.

In this week’s episode: We break down Vanity Fair’s bombshell featuring on-the-record criticism of Trump from chief of staff Susie Wiles, examine Fox News and MAGA Media’s rare break with Trump after his disturbing Rob Reiner post, dig into why Bari Weiss’ hyped town hall with Erika Kirk fell flat, what’s behind Warner Bros. rejecting Paramount again, Ted Cruz confronting FCC chair Brendan Carr, and more.

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