CNN is introducing a digital paywall that will charge some users a fee to read articles for the first time

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CNN
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CNN, one of the world’s most popular news websites, is starting to charge some of its visitors a monthly payment of $3.99 for access.

On Tuesday, the news organization is breaking ground on a so-called paywall that will, over time, help cover the costs of CNN journalism around the world.

“Starting today, we are asking users in the United States to pay a small recurring fee for unlimited access to CNN.com’s premium articles,” wrote Alex MacCallum, CNN’s executive vice president of digital products and services, in an internal statement Memo the plan.

The average CNN website visitor, who may only read a few articles per month, will not be asked to pay at this time. “Only after users have consumed a certain number of free items will they be prompted to subscribe,” MacCallum explained. “In addition to unlimited access to CNN.com stories, subscribers will receive benefits such as exclusive election coverage, original documentaries, a curated daily selection of our most outstanding journalism and reduced digital advertising.”

MacCallum and her boss Mark Thompson, chairman and chief executive of CNN, are both veterans of the New York Times, which is widely envied in the news industry for its success in converting online readers and gamers into paying subscribers.

In a memo over the summer, Thompson said CNN would “develop best-in-class, subscription-enabled products that deliver important news, analysis and context in compelling new formats and experiences, starting with the first subscription to CNN.com. Product launch before the end of 2024.”

This paid offer starts on Tuesday – in a preliminary form that will be expanded in the coming months. “Over time, we will invest in ways to better meet the needs of our users and expand our reach to reach and serve new audiences,” MacCallum wrote on Tuesday, hinting at “new products and businesses” in the future .

For brands like CNN, which make most of their money from cable TV, the challenge is clear: to develop new digital revenue streams that can offset declines in traditional TV.

Under previous leadership, CNN developed a streaming video product called CNN+ in 2022 to build direct-to-consumer relationships with fans of the network. However, this product, launched just days before new parent Warner Bros. Discovery took control and sought cost savings, was doomed to failure. CNN+ was canceled within weeks.

CNN now wants to generate subscriptions with its core offerings. However, some content remains fully accessible without a subscription, including the CNN homepage. breaking news, live stories; standalone video sites; and sponsored articles.

Thomson Reuters, the world’s largest international multimedia news provider, said on Tuesday it will also introduce a paywall for its website and app in early October. The news outlet said subscriptions will be available worldwide for a weekly fee of $1.

“This new subscription plan ensures Reuters can expand the reach of its award-winning reporting at an affordable price, while allowing us to further invest in our reporting and products for subscribers,” Reuters President Paul Bascobert said in a statement.

Digital subscriptions have been a promising but challenging business for other news organizations. A recent survey by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford found that only about one in five American consumers currently pays for online news.

Greg Piechota, researcher-in-residence at the International News Media Association, said there is plenty of room for growth in the industry. “There is no subscription cap for online news,” Piechota said. “Imagine standing in front of the One World Trade skyscraper in downtown New York and looking up to the top observation deck. Most news brands have only reached the first floor, and the 100th floor is way up in the clouds.”

The Times is by far the highest, with about 10 million digital subscribers, he said.

Smaller news organizations are encountering subscription fatigue and other sources of resistance—a reflection of the fact that virtually all reporting was published for free when the World Wide Web became popular in the 1990s.

Media companies large and small have sought to change the norms of news access over the past decade.

Yet many readers and viewers are unsure whether they should personally pay for news and help sustain the industry as a whole. Piechota said: “Surveys indicate that most consumers around the world are unfortunately unaware of the financial challenges faced by commercial news media.”

“But when they learn about the industry’s critical financial situation,” he said, “their willingness to pay for journalism is highest, studies show.”

CNN’s Liam Reilly contributed reporting.