Now that it is common knowledge that CNN is struggling to keep viewers and their newly designed app, CNN+, failed from the start, the news outlet is apparently trying to do damage control by letting none other than host Brian Stelter explain that the app’s dismal performance had nothing to do with ratings, but the fact that the streaming service came at a time when CNN and Warner Bros. Discovery were merging. 

Giving his explanation on “Reliable Sources”, Stelter suggested,  “What a turbulent week for major media companies with CNN, Netflix, Disney and Twitter all left spinning with no stopping in sight. Here at CNN, new ownership decided to shut down the CNN+ streaming service less than a month after it was launched by the previous management team. The u-turn was front-page news, stunning news and painful news for everyone involved. Years of development possibly down the drain. Some of the shows may never be seen. Hundreds of staffers may be laid off, though the company is trying to place many of them in new jobs. Amid these bruising headlines, folks are trying to make sense of it. Some partisans are believing the predictable talking points about politics, but the truth is, this was a corporate move.”

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The host added, “This CNN+ service was doomed because of the timing of the merger and clashing strategies. The new owner has plans to compile multiple streaming platforms to make one big challenger for Netflix.”

Showing emotion for his fellow employees being let go, Stelter concluded, “It’s hard to fathom as a CNN employee worrying about my colleagues being laid off — that this was simply about corporate strategy, but that’s what it was.”

Users online weren’t buying Stelter’s theory, writing, “Seltzer Water knows CNN is bad, so he’s just lying (again). Terrible excuse.”

Another person added, “Say what you will but no one wants crap + when they already have crap.”

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And one asked, “The entire model is upside down: shouldn’t viewers be compensated for the damages of propaganda? Look where we are: gas prices are double what they were in 2020 – CNN helped do that, and more, being pimps of the ‘Russian collusion’ hoax.”

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