CNN CEO Mark Thompson talks about his $7 streaming service, his future owners, and bias in media.

"The new job might be his hardest one yet: CNN is a big brand that still makes a lot of money, but it's a cable TV network, and cable TV networks are in big trouble. So Thompson is trying to find an answer in streaming, with a new service that will give you just about everything CNN shows you on TV, for $7 a month."

"The most obvious question about the streaming service's launch is whether there are many people who care enough about CNN to pay for it separately - instead of as part of a cable TV bundle, where it has lived all its life. The next question is how you get people who aren't paying for news to start doing that, especially when there's so much out there for free."

"Right now, CNN makes most of its money from fees that cable TV customers pay to cable TV companies. You're trying to launch a model where I pay CNN directly. Where is this going? Mark Thompson: We think we've got one of the best-known - by some measures, the best-known and most widely trusted - news brands in the world. Our original legacy platform of conventional pay TV in the US on cable has stood the test of time"

CNN remains a profitable, widely recognized cable TV network confronting industry-wide declines as cable bundles erode. The network plans a $7/month streaming service that will deliver nearly all linear TV programming directly to consumers to generate subscription revenue. Major uncertainties include whether enough viewers will pay separately for CNN and how to convert people who currently consume free news. The New York Times' transition to paid digital subscriptions is offered as a precedent for building paying audiences. Persistent accusations of ideological bias and potential ownership change add strategic uncertainty to the network's future.

Read at Business Insider