CNN Hires Chief Content Officer Amid Digital Rebuild
As it looks to reshape itself for a post-TV future, CNN has rehired a familiar name in a new C-suite role.
Amanda Wills, who departed the cable news brand in 2022 for The Wall Street Journal after a six-year run, has rejoined CNN as chief content officer, the company said on Monday.
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The executive will work with the product team as it plans out its content strategy across TV, digital and streaming platforms and will report to Virginia Moseley, the executive editor of editorial. Wills' start date will be April 14.
At the Journal, Wills held a similar title, chief content officer of video, overseeing the vertical for the News Corp. broadsheet since November 2022.
While at CNN, Wills also worked on the short-lived foray into a subscription digital product, CNN+, as vp of content programming for the $300 million service that was scrapped after less than a month in between a sale of its parent company from AT&T to Discovery.
That Jeff Zucker-era product — which had original shows, like Jake Tapper's Book Club, separate from CNN's main feed — was intended as a bridge between its main feed and its streaming future. Another veteran from CNN+, Nancy Han, also just rejoined the cable news outlet as svp, video editorial in March.
Both hires were made after the company rehired Alex MacCallum, the general manager of CNN+ and The New York Times product veteran, last year as CNN aims to make a major push into digital subscriptions.
After widely expected cuts were made in January — about 6 percent of jobs, or 200 people — the cable news brand has been reorienting toward building products outside of its core linear TV offering. CEO Mark Thompson said at the time of the layoffs that about 100 roles would be filled and that parent company Warner Bros. Discovery would be making a $70 million investment in the brand to 'execute new plans.'
Those plans include a new streaming service, details yet-to-be-revealed, 'to stream news programming from us on any device they choose,' Thompson described in January. And they also include a lifestyle-oriented digital product as well as new television schedule — Jake Tapper, Wolf Blitzer and Audie Cornish all got new time slots while Jim Acosta exited — and an integration of digital, TV and international newsrooms from their previous silos.
CNN, which streams on Max, has been testing the waters for a digital subscription product and currently offers pricing plans of $3.99 monthly or $29.99 a year, with subscriber benefits being premium articles and documentaries on its website. In late February, Max unveiled a plan to cut news and sports from its offerings on its cheaper advertising tier, and placed CNN Max on its $16.99 a month plan that also includes B/R Sports starting on March 30.
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