CNN is set to lose a key viewer demographic: people forced against their will to watch their network while stuck in airports.
It’s not just your imagination that CNN always seems to be playing at any airport you go to. Fifty-eight airports air CNN Airport, and a report from Tucker Carlson in 2018 found that CNN pays them to run their channel, and reimburses them for the TVs, cable connections, maintenance, and other costs that may arise as a result of hosting them. Miami International Airport gets paid $150,000 per-year to host the network, and the others likely get paid comparable sums.
CNN Airport’s coverage is identical to regular CNN, with the exception that CNN Airport doesn’t cover or air footage of plane crashes. And now they won’t be covering anything.
According to the New York Post:
CNN boss Jeff Zucker on Tuesday said that the cable giant is shuttering its CNN Airport Network.
The network, launched 30 years ago, will close up shop on March 31, Zucker wrote in a memo to staff, citing a “steep decline” in usage due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the fact that more travelers now get news from their smartphones.
“The steep decline in airport traffic because of COVID-19, coupled with all the new ways that people are consuming content on their personal devices, has lessened the need for the CNN Airport Network,” Zucker said. “Having to say goodbye to such a beloved brand is not easy … I am sure most of us have a story to tell about which airport we were at when we first learned of a major news event.”
Well, at least ONE positive thing managed to come out of this pandemic.
