Chris Wallace

2022 - 4 - 21

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Image courtesy of "al.com"

CNN+ shutting down less than month after launch with Chris Wallace (al.com)

Executives said some CNN+ programming and employees will be absorbed into the television network and website but there will be layoffs.

But executives said they were not allowed, until the takeover was formally approved weeks ago, to be involved in meetings about the service. “Couldn’t do it.” Because of contracts with cable and satellite companies, CNN+ could not stream the CNN television network. Unlike CNN+, which was charging customers $5.99 a month, broadcast networks like ABC, CBS and NBC offer free news-streaming services. The head of CNN+, Andrew Morse, is leaving the company. Perrette said Discovery had learned from trying to launch its own news service in Poland, and in seeing the experiences of other paid streaming services in the United States like Fox Nation, that CNN+ could not expect to get near one million subscribers.

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Image courtesy of "New York Post"

CNN+ shutdown leaves axed staffers 'aghast and furious' (New York Post)

"This is f-cking crazy, it is nuts," a CNN insider told The Post just hours after the network announced it would shutter the CNN+ streaming service.

The Post has reached out to Wallace seeking comment. “All the CNN talent were basically doing double duty — Don Lemon, just announced his show a few days ago,” one staffer lamented. The roughly 300 staffers were offered six months’ severance as well as first dibs on job opportunities within CNN, according to sources. “Given what the new mandate is, which is hard news, why would you have decided the CNN+ programming would be effectively softer programming?” the insider said. “The big people will likely be saved, but what about everybody else, the people who do the real work?” the insider told The Post. “This is f–king crazy, it is nuts,” a CNN insider told The Post.

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Image courtesy of "The Washington Post"

CNN's new streaming service, CNN Plus, is already shutting down (The Washington Post)

CNN's new parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, decided to pull the plug on the streaming service after a slow first month.

Hunt, in an interview with The Post last month, had said she was excited to get Licht’s advice on her CNN Plus show. In the months leading up to the merger, Discovery executives had hoped that WarnerMedia leadership would delay the CNN Plus launch, but company brass, led by chief executive Jason Kilar, decided to move forward with it. He had visited with employees in the network’s New York City office on Tuesday, which an employee said made Thursday’s announcement particularly hard. Besides Wallace, CNN Plus was building new shows around several other talents hired away from prominent news organizations, including Kasie Hunt of MSNBC and Audie Cornish of NPR, though the service did not offer the network’s traditional television shows to subscribers. But, the person said that Licht “took responsibility” for the decision in the town hall meeting and displayed strong leadership. On Thursday, new CNN chief executive Chris Licht stunned employees with the announcement it would shutter next week.

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Image courtesy of "The New York Times"

CNN+ Streaming Service Is Set to Shut Down (The New York Times)

In a remarkable turnabout for one of the world's premier television news outlets, Warner Bros. Discovery has decided to shut down CNN+, the ballyhooed streaming ...

In February, addressing a group of anchors and executives stunned by Mr. Zucker’s departure, Mr. Kilar said that the streaming service was integral to the future of CNN. And in March, as the merger with Discovery loomed, CNN held a launch party for the new service at Peak, a sleek restaurant and bar at 30 Hudson Yards not far from the network’s New York offices. (To avoid running afoul of CNN’s agreements with cable carriers, CNN+ did include the live programming that was featured on its cable network.) Still, two people inside CNN said the service had about 150,000 paying subscribers and was on pace to hit the network’s first-year goals. CNN+ made its debut just days before the merger was completed last month, to the frustration of some Discovery executives. Warner Bros. Discovery has about $55 billion in debt, which executives are now under pressure to repay. “It allows us to refocus resources on the core products that drive our singular focus: further enhancing CNN’s journalism and its reputation as a global news leader.” “Then the new owner came in and said, ‘What a beautiful house! “And that doesn’t take anything away from this beautiful house you built. In February, as CNN was preparing to start the streaming service, the network was torn by the departure of Mr. Zucker, its long-serving president and the most prominent proponent of the service at the network. But I need an apartment,’” Mr. Licht said, according to the recording. Mr. Licht and JB Perrette, the head of global streaming at Warner Bros. Discovery, convened several meetings over the past several weeks to figure out what to do with the service. The new corporate owners of CNN are moving to end the new streaming service after a splashy debut.

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Image courtesy of "Newsweek"

Chris Wallace's Future Uncertain After Leaving FOX to Join Now ... (Newsweek)

"Sooooo, I'm not doing New Years Eve on CNN+ with Chris Wallace?" comedian Kathy Griffin quipped in a tweet.

Wallace added that he was "ready for a new adventure." I have been free to report to the best of my ability, to cover the stories I think are important, to hold our country's leaders to account," Wallace said during his December 12 Fox News Sunday program before his departure. He drew Trump's ire on multiple occasions, with the former president attacking him in a June 2021 statement. "We have very exciting opportunities ahead in the streaming space and CNN, one of the world's premier reputational assets, will play an important role there," Perrette said. "Sooooo, I'm not doing New Years Eve on CNN+ with Chris Wallace?" comedian Kathy Griffin quipped in a tweet. The decision to shutter CNN+ came by new management, after CNN merged with Warner Bros. Discovery this month.

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Image courtesy of "USA TODAY"

CNN+ is dead: Here's what killed the streaming news service only a ... (USA TODAY)

CNN+, the streaming service that made waves when it poached Chris Wallace from Fox News, is dead a month after it began. Here's why it failed.

When officials toss around words such as “consumers” instead of “viewers” or “readers,” they make it clear that the bottom line is the bottom line. What becomes of Wallace? The vacated Chris Cuomo slot on weeknights might make the most sense for him. There were some intriguing elements to CNN+: a massive library of shows, such as every episode of “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” or selected Larry King interviews. You don’t paint the walls purple and pink right before someone new is about to move in. Some programming may find its way to a single-destination streaming service that will combine Discovery+ and HBO Max. “But our customers and CNN will be best served with a simpler streaming choice.”

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Trump celebrates the demise of CNN+: 'Congratulations' (Business Insider)

He also insulted CNN+ host Chris Wallace, formerly of Fox News, by bringing up his late father. Sign up for our weekday newsletter, packed with original ...

"In any event, it's just one more piece of CNN and Fake News that we don't have to bother with anymore!" "Congratulations to CNN+ on their decision to immediately FOLD for a lack of ratings, or viewers in any way, shape, or form," Trump said in a written statement. - "Congratulations to CNN+ on their decision to immediately FOLD," he said in a written statement.

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A Look at the Hosts of CNN+, From Chris Wallace to Kasie Hunt (The Wall Street Journal)

Journalists Chris Wallace and Kasie Hunt are among those who left other outlets to join the short-lived streaming service.

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Fox News' Greg Gutfeld Spends Entire Show Gloating at Ex ... (Daily Beast)

Gutfeld routinely mocked Wallace even while he was at Fox News. And after CNN's streamer collapsed, the Fox News host saw an opportunity to be petty.

“I'm going to do this every segment, so get used to it!” “I just needed to get that in there.” “Look for independent voices with free time, so I guess that eliminates Chris Wallace,” Gutfeld smugly joked, prompting co-host Jeanine Pirro to chortle in approval.

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RIP CNN+. Might I suggest CNN-, HuluMeh and HBOmin ... (USA TODAY)

Is the swift failure of CNN+, combined with news of Netflix hemorrhaging subscribers, a sign of a pendulum swing away from streaming platform use?

Instead of Wolf Blitzer’s “The Situation Room,” subscribers would get Wolf Blitzer’s “Living Room,” which is just a web-cam live-streaming from the host’s home. But is the swift failure of CNN+, combined with recent news of Netflix hemorrhaging subscribers, a sign of a pendulum swing away from the pandemic-induced surge of streaming platform use? And if the plus-labeled streaming service fad is any indication, other companies will follow. But our customers and CNN will be best served with a simpler streaming choice.” large soda to a HULK-SIZED 64 oz. If you took the time to say “CNN-plus” out loud, you might’ve missed the entire life of the news network’s much-ballyhooed, multimillion-dollar streaming service.

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Image courtesy of "Newsweek"

Trump Celebrates CNN+ Shutting Down, Slams Chris Wallace (Newsweek)

"It's just one more piece of CNN and Fake News that we don't have to bother with anymore!" Trump said on Thursday.

"In any event, it's just one more piece of CNN and Fake News that we don't have to bother with anymore!" On Thursday, top executives at Warner Bros. Discovery—the product of WarnerMedia's merger with Discovery—hinted that Zucker and others in "prior leadership" were partly to blame for the shocking collapse of CNN+. The merger of CNN's parent company, WarnerMedia, with Discovery earlier this month resulted in the shocking end of what had been hyped to be one of the network's most significant developments.

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Greg Gutfeld Spends Entire Show Gloating at Ex-Colleague Chris Wallace Over CNN+ Demise (Yahoo News)

“BLM has done to Black people what Chris Wallace did to CNN+: entice them with a promise and then ditch them on the side of the road,” he quipped during the next segment. “I'm going to do this every segment, so get used to it!”.

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Report: Chris Wallace's CNN+ Show Will 'Likely' Continue on CNN TV (TVNewser)

If Who's Talking to Chris Wallace? (or some iteration of it) continues, will it land in CNN's 9 p.m. timeslot, where Larry King once held court for decades?

The company’s new leadership is still trying to decide what the best platform is for each CNN+ program. Smith also reports that all of CNN+ programs, a mix of lifestyle and news, will move to the CNN cable channel or to CNN.com, whereas the longer-form productions for CNN+ produced by CNN Original Series and Films will find a home on the Warner Bros. Discovery streaming service whenever that launches. Bloomberg‘s Gerry Smith added some new reporting to the CNN+ saga today.

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Greg Gutfeld Takes Potshots at Chris Wallace Throughout 'The Five ... (Mediaite)

Greg Gutfeld took several swipes at CNN+ host and former Fox News anchor Chris Wallace during each segment of The Five on Thursday. Earlier in the day CNN ...

For example, I just looked out at Sixth Avenue, and who did I see just hanging out in front of a tavern? “As we know, CNN+ closed down, so you see a lot of their talent out on the street. “I haven’t done a celebrity sighting in awhile,” he began.

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Image courtesy of "The Week Magazine"

What's next for Chris Wallace after end of CNN+? (The Week Magazine)

Other anchors who were tapped for CNN+ programming include Kasie Hunt, formerly of NBC News and MSNBC, and Audie Cornish, former host of NPR's All Things ...

Of the 700 people who work for CNN+, around 350 will be laid off, Axios reports. Wallace's show will "likely" move to the main CNN cable channel, Bloomberg reports. Other anchors who were tapped for CNN+ programming include Kasie Hunt, formerly of NBC News and MSNBC, and Audie Cornish, former host of NPR's All Things Considered. A streaming show from food writer Alison Roman was also on the way.

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Chris Wallace and Other CNN+ Hosts Are Jockeying for Broadcast ... (TheWrap)

Wallace is CNN's front-runner for a primetime show, but Brian Williams and Keith Olbermann are emerging as external rivals, insiders tell TheWrap.

The anchor addressed Licht directly to detail the hard work and sacrifices made by the 500-member CNN+ staff, and that the shows were already resonating with viewers. The lobbying started almost immediately when word got around that CNN+ was likely being sent out to pasture. The 74-year-old Wallace has been lobbying CNN bosses since March for a primetime slot amid frustrations that his million-viewer Fox audience nosedived when he joined CNN+ and its 150,000 initial subscribers. Stelter, who hosts Sunday’s media-centric “Reliable Sources,” was once floated as a contender for Cuomo’s old primetime spot. Truly,” said one CNN+ journalist who will remain at the network, perhaps even in an expanded role. There was also uneasiness among the staff still getting to know a new regime ushered in earlier this month by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

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