When Mark Thompson took over as the head of CNN last fall, replacing the disastrous one-year reign of Chris Licht, he looked to the future. He didn’t like what he saw.
Thompson told staff back then that CNN was “nowhere ready for the future.”
Thompson knew two things: that CNN was best known for its linear TV product, and that the future is not linear TV. He said, “For most people under retirement age, the first place they turn for news is their phones, not their TVs. And news players who can’t or won’t respond to that revolution risk losing their audience and their business.”
On Wednesday, Thompson laid out his plans that he hopes jump-starts the network out of the past and into what’s next.
Cable TV still makes money, but cord-cutting has made it a shrinking business. So Thompson now sets his sights on a world outside of television. Calling it a “true multimedia strategy,” Thompson is combining all of CNN’s news operations (international, domestic and digital news) under one umbrella that will serve its TV, streaming and digital platforms.
In a memo to staff, Thompson wrote, “So far CNN has been slow to respond to the challenge. Perhaps that’s not surprising: the CNN of today is no longer that buccaneering outsider but a tenured incumbent. You still see our strength when big stories break. We still sport brilliant on-air, digital and producing talent and have one of the world’s most visited news websites. But, despite all these strengths, there’s currently too little innovation and risk-taking. Like so many other news players with a broadcast heritage, CNN’s linear services and even its website can sometimes have an old-fashioned and unadventurous feel as if the world has changed and they haven’t.”
Thompson wrote in his note, “For many people today, the smartphone is a more important device for consuming news than the TV. Their news primetime is in the morning, not the evening. Video remains key but the news video that most people under 40 watch is vertical not horizontal and, because neither we nor any other established news provider offer a compelling video-led news experience, they often find their news on generic video and social apps. Many get to know CNN reporting and CNN anchors on YouTube or TikTok without connecting them with CNN at all.”
A key for CNN, however, is understanding exactly how to serve an audience that consumes news through their phones. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal’s Isabella Simonetti, Thompson said, “I don’t think anyone’s yet cracked the code on how that translates, truly translates to a great news experience.”
Thompson also told Simonetti that if CNN “can figure out a way of doing that and make sure it’s a high quality, differentiated product,” the people should be willing to pay for it.
He also referenced subscriptions in his memo, writing, “Technology may be disrupting our traditional revenue, but it offers us many new opportunities to reach audiences and deliver the kind of quality journalism they will pay for.”
In addition, Thompson told Simonetti, “I’m not even sure that subscription is the right pathway for CNN. But I do think we need to start experimenting and exploring in the broader sense direct-to-consumer relationships and potentially direct-to-consumer paying relationships.”
This does not mean he is giving up on the regular CNN cable network that viewers watch on TV. Far from it. After Thompson laid out some of his strategies about digital, he wrote, “… it’s only natural for someone who currently works on the TV side at CNN to ask themselves whether I’m ever going to turn to them. Don’t worry. At their frequent best our domestic and global TV schedules are one of the jewels in our crown and I believe that linear TV will play a central and vital role in CNN’s success as far out as the eye can see.”
When and exactly how CNN is going to do all this is still not known publicly. He told Simonetti, “These things take time.”
But it remains a critical time for CNN, as it has slipped in the cable news ratings behind Fox News and MSNBC. Thompson noted in his memo, “The shift from linear broadcast to digital means that the audience for all news channels on US cable has fallen by roughly a fifth in just the past two years.”
Thompson finished off his memo (which you can read in Ted Johnson’s piece for Deadline) with a bit of pep talk, writing, “There’s news of a fair amount of change at CNN in this memo, and no doubt more in the coming months. Change is essential if we’re to secure this great news company’s future. It brings uncertainty — that I’m afraid is inevitable — but in my experience, it’s also often rich in personal and shared opportunity. As we enter this new chapter in CNN’s storied history, I’d encourage you to take a leaf out of Ted Turner’s book. Let’s build with confidence. Let’s fulfill our mission. Let’s learn some new tricks. Let’s look after each other. Let’s have some fun.”
