CNN+ To Be Priced At $5.99 Per Month With Early 50% Off Offer

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UPDATE, 6:32 AM PT: CNN+ will be available for $2.99 per month for those who subscribe within the first four weeks of launch, in what the network called a “deal of a lifetime.”

Otherwise, subscriptions will be $5.99 per month. The price point has been highly anticipated as CNN’s subscription streaming service prepares to launch in the spring, against doubts that consumers still have an appetite for adding yet another monthly fee to their TV diet.

But the network, in announcing the pricing, framed it as a small expense.

Alex MacCallum, CNN worldwide head of product and general manager for CNN+, said in a statement, “For less than a cup of coffee, subscribers will have access to live programming from some of the greatest journalists in the world, premium on demand content and Interview Club – our interactive offering that is unlike anything else available on any streaming service today.”

The $2.99 offer is permanent, meaning that those who sign on will be locked into that price point, as long as they don’t interrupt their subscription. If they do and re-subscribe, they will have to pay $5.99, according to the network.

CNN+ will be accessible via one single CNN app, but even those pay TV subscribers who get the regular network will have to subscribe to the streaming service.

PREVIOUSLY: CNN’s new subscription streaming service will be priced at $5.99 per month, with a special offer for early subscribers to get 50% off.

An official announcement about the pricing for CNN+, set to launch sometime in the spring, is expected on Thursday.

The special offer will allow early subscribers — those who sign up within the first four weeks — to get CNN+ for half-off. That will be their permanent, lifetime subscription price, as long as they remain subscribers.

The channel also will be offered at $59.99 per year.

No launch date has been set for CNN+, which will feature original content featuring daily shows headlined by such news personalities as Chris Wallace, Kasie Hunt, Sara Sidner, Brian Stelter and Wolf Blitzer, along with a mix of lifestyle and documentary programming. The programming will be a mix of live, on-demand and interactive programming. It also includes the Interview Club, in which subscribers will be able to submit questions live and in advance of interviews between CNN personalities and newsmakers.

CNN also plans a single CNN app, in which pay TV subscribers will have access to current CNN channels and, if they subscribe, to CNN+. The app also will be the way for CNN+-only subscribers to access the content.

CNN recently announced their lineup of programming, which also will library content from CNN Original Series and almost two dozen CNN Films documentaries.

The Los Angeles Times first reported on the pricing deal. There also have been reports that the service will be offered as a package with HBO Max.

The development and launch of CNN+ was one of the key goals for network chief Jeff Zucker until he resigned early last month. His successor, Chris Licht, will not start until May.