CNN Max is here
Warner Bros. Discovery has begun live news coverage with the September 27 rollout of CNN Max, a re-packaged version its CNN international programming (ostensibly to avoid challenges with carriage-fee agreements in place with their domestic programming). CNN Max features a full seven-day schedule, organized into an easy-to-find content hub on the Max streamer. The new hub is being marketed as an open beta, with feedback encouraged to help shape the future of news on Max. In addition to well-known talent and content from CNN news programs, the news hub will also offer expanded access to over nine hundred hours of CNN Original content. CNN Max is free on all plan tiers.
The Circana Take:
- Getting live news right is a crucial piece of the post-cord-cutter era, and CNN Max is the first integrated news experience in direct-to-consumer streaming.
- Max’s younger demographic also offers the opportunity to develop an expanded audience for CNN.
Disney+ to begin password-sharing crackdown in Canada
Disney+ has announced that on November 1, it will begin to crackdown on household password sharing (precise details on how they will achieve this are scarce, but CEO Bob Iger has said they have the technical capability to do this). The crackdown will begin in Canada but will also launch in the US later this year. The new policy will occur the same day as the rollout of their ad-supported tier in Canada, the UK, and Europe.
The Circana Take:
- Password-sharing is all about capturing profitability, with the hopes of gaining incremental revenue. Mitigating churn will determine if it is net positive.
- The password crackdown will come on the heels of a worldwide price increase on October 12, which should add extra choppiness after both changes take effect.