The case of the well-known US broadcaster CNN, which has announced an internal revolution in the news network geared towards resource optimisation, AI and multimedia development: will these measures also be ‘necessary’ for the European and Italian realities?
The major overhaul of CNN’s news model involves the evolution of a $1 billion digital business, experimenting with artificial intelligence, and restructuring the newsroom. Announcing and explaining the plan was Mark Thompson, the broadcaster’s CEO, who in a note at the beginning of July also confirmed the need to cut roughly 3% of the workforce. All this with the aim of abandoning cable broadcasting in favour of a true “multimedia news operation, integrated and greatly simplified”.
The digital strategy also includes the launch of CNN.com’s first direct-to-consumer subscription product by the end of 2024. “Our idea is to strengthen the role of the CNN.com platform by placing more emphasis on engagement and frequency, i.e. how much time users spend with us and how often they return, improving the quality of the experiences offered,” Thompson continues. On the content side, this means giving greater priority to video, seen as the experience of the future, to be rethought on every platform, from pure digital to streaming to FAST (Free Ad Supported Streaming TV) channels.
The topic of artificial intelligence is also interesting. Again, in the words of the CEO, CNN will in fact make a strategic push towards AI experimentation to ‘define how best and safely to exploit this new technology. To offer the best to our audience and achieve our journalistic goals more effectively’. In terms of newsroom, finally, the three divisions – US television, international television and digital – will be integrated into one large block.
