CNN's streaming service charging forward amid storms at network
Alex Wong/Getty Images News

CNN+ (T
+0.6%) will charge forward into the streaming void this month even as it wraps up a messy scramble at the very top of CNN that resulted in a change of leadership at the longtime news network.
One month ago, veteran CNN chief Jeff Zucker stunned colleagues by resigning, pointing to an undisclosed relationship with an employee.
The move threw a wrinkle into a high-profile launch of CNN's streaming offering, coming as parent WarnerMedia (T
+0.6%) prepares to close a blockbuster $43 billion merger with Discovery (DISCA
-1.6%) in just over a month.
Discovery has confirmed that CBS executive Chris Licht is taking over CNN Global May 1 - and CNN+ is planned to be a ways out of the starting gate by then.
It's set to launch in the last week of March, and will be priced long-term at $5.99/month - the same price as rival Fox's (FOX
+0.1%, FOXA
+0.1%) Fox Nation streaming service. For the first four weeks, though, it's offering the service at $2.99/month, a lifetime rate it will honor for as long as the new account is open.
It's also planning on offering a cheaper ad-supported version of the service in time, the Los Angeles Times reports - and also setting up a bundled offering with HBO Max.
CNN+ will cover breaking news but with a different team than the cable channel, and will offer different programming as CNN works to avoid cannibalizing the TV audience from which it gets more than half its revenues.
WarnerMedia reportedly invested $120 million last year, and the new Warner Bros. Discovery will likely need to spend several hundred million dollars to operate it this year. Meanwhile, it faces a tough sell as a premium streaming news service when other major news broadcasters (ABC, CBS and NBC) have made their supported streaming news free.