Perhaps the world just wasn’t ready for CNN+. That video streaming service, which launched in 2022, featured original content from the more distinguished CNN personalities, and was gone after one month. Now, according to Deadline, the cable news network is trying again this October 28th with CNN All Access.
CNN’s new All Access streaming subscription tier will launch October 28. It will be available for $6.99/month or for a special introductory price on the annual plan of $41.99/year for the first year. https://t.co/zKBpEf0J5Z pic.twitter.com/vFh7idWkHT
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) October 16, 2025
CNN All Access will allow users to stream live and on-demand news. But many are asking if we’re going to see history repeat itself.
Why CNN Is Trying Again
According to The Hollywood Reporter, WarnerMedia poured $300 million into CNN+, with plans of spending hundreds of millions more. When it shut down just one month later, incoming CNN CEO Chris Licht said in a statement, “This is not a decision about quality; we appreciate all of the work, ambition and creativity that went into building CNN+, an organization with terrific talent and compelling programming. But our customers and CNN will be best served with a simpler streaming choice.”
A CNN Report on President Trump – YouTube, CNN
CNN+ was one of the shortest-lived streaming services in history, a reminder of how competitive the digital media landscape has become
This time, rather than creating an entirely new product, CNN All Access is being introduced as the latest streaming tier to a preexisting product. Still, after such an expensive misstep with CNN+, the decision to try again so soon underscores how vital streaming has become to CNN’s future.
In an October 16th press release, Alex MacCallum, Executive Vice President, Digital Products and Services, CNN Worldwide, said, “It’s an essential step in CNN’s evolution as we work to give audiences the complete CNN experience in a format that reflects how audiences engage with the news today.”
The logo for YouTube TV – YouTube
The way audiences are engaging with news and all forms of video media is less and less through cable – a troubling thought for the once-lauded Cable News Network. As cord-cutting becomes the norm, viewers are gravitating toward services like Netflix, Paramount+, HBO Max, and others for their news, sports, and entertainment. YouTube TV is set to overtake Comcast as the largest multichannel video provider in the U.S. by 2026.
Given current trends, a second attempt at staking a claim in the streaming space might be a risk CNN can’t afford not to take. The challenge now is ensuring they don’t make the same mistakes twice.
Second Chances
CNN+ only featured content exclusive to the app. All Access will allow subscribers to stream live news, or select from CNN’s library of documentaries, series, and films. Much of that content, as well as the live news streams, has been available on HBO Max, but will be leaving that service in November to become exclusive to All Access.
A news broadcast on CNN – YouTube, CNN
THR notes that “the new offering is pricier than CNN+, which carried a $5.99 per month price tag (there was also a launch discount), but also includes substantially more digital content, including interactive features and written reporting.”
What remains to be seen is if consumers are still willing to pay for news as they do for entertainment. In the world of new media, where breaking news is free on X, can a legacy network like CNN adapt and survive in the digital space?
Will you be signing up for CNN All Access streaming? Or do you think this is doomed from the start? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
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Has CNN ever, EVER considered that people just don’t want what they’re selling? They barely get more than 500k viewers total, with a mere 76k in the 25-54 demographic, as of Q3 2025. Why do they think a streaming app is going to help when the overwhelming majority of their (paltry) viewers are seniors who still use cable/satellite?
I like it! Time to step up to the plate with a runner on third, Trevor. I’ll be following your trajectory, with this opportunity presented. Truly. And I’m just some schlub from the Mid-West with zero interest in furthering my own meddling. I’m a nobody. A reader.
Godspeed.
CNN is a (left-wing-fascist) propaganda channel. Social media is making more men aware of this every day.
If it doesn’t work up I’m guessing it will be a result of Trumps “fascism” rather than the fact that people tend not to want to pay for propaganda.
So VOD with a live feed? I guess that’s better than what they had last time, but you have to have a product people are willing to buy, and that’s where CNN fails.
I doubt the problem is that people are missing their favorite shows, it is that CNN doesn’t have any good shows more compelling than watching grass grow or paint dry.