In October, CNN.com launched its first paid subscription offering where the network asked users in the United States to pay a small recurring fee for unlimited access to CNN.com’s world-class articles. The vast majority of the people who visit CNN.com every month will continue to enjoy the same experience as they do today. Only after they consume a certain number of free articles will they be prompted to subscribe. In addition to unlimited access to CNN.com’s articles, subscribers will receive benefits like exclusive election features, original documentaries, a curated daily selection of our most distinctive journalism and fewer digital ads.
We caught up with CNN’s SVP of Growth Amanda Rottier to dive in a bit deeper on this new offering.
What is a CNN digital subscription?
Readers and users of CNN.com will continue to largely enjoy our platform as they did previously, but we are now offering our subscribers a new level of unlimited access to our wealth of journalism – including our election coverage and exclusive features like documentaries and our Road to 270 experience.
Why are we introducing this subscription model now?
This is really the foundational first step that we are taking to better understand and connect with our digital audience, so that we can later on down the road introduce new products and offerings. Our unmatched global newsroom provides a lot of need-to-know news, and that will always continue, but we are also going to introduce want-to-use paid offerings anchored by some of our lifestyle journalism. And that’s what we are now shifting our focus to work on delivering.
What kind of content can subscribers expect?
We are going to lean into what CNN does best to reflect CNN’s massive strength in video and well known talent and journalists.
How will this product enhance the user experience compared to free content?
We are going to work on delivering a compelling experience for our audience where they want to spend their time with us and with our content. Now, we offer product features like fewer ads for subscribers and more features and offerings that a free experience doesn’t offer.
