As the new CNN streaming service known as CNN+ started, the former Fox News anchor Chris Wallace was reportedly furious at the new show and even threatened to resign from his new network.
On Jon Nicosia’s Twitter post, the managing editor of Mediaite posted the story of Wallace being disgruntled on Twitter.
Nicosia said, “SOURCE: Chris Wallace is ‘having daily breakdowns’ over the ‘miserable launch’ of @CNNplus. Wants a ‘CNN show or is threatening to walk’ they go on. ‘He is having staffers count how many times a day his promo is playing.’”
SOURCE: Chris Wallace is “having daily breakdowns” over the “miserable launch” of @CNNplus. Wants a “CNN show or is threatening to walk” they go on. “He is having staffers count how many times a day his promo is playing”
— Jon Nicosia (@NewsPolitics) April 12, 2022
“@CNNplus struggles to lure viewers in its early days, drawing fewer than 10,000 daily users,” he also said.
SOURCE: Chris Wallace is “having daily breakdowns” over the “miserable launch” of @CNNplus. Wants a “CNN show or is threatening to walk” they go on. “He is having staffers count how many times a day his promo is playing”
— Jon Nicosia (@NewsPolitics) April 12, 2022
“SOURCE CONT’D: ‘He’s telling anyone that will listen he wants Cuomo’s old time slot,’” he said.
.@CNNplus struggles to lure viewers in its early days, drawing fewer than 10,000 daily users https://t.co/zdcidVNh8H
— Jon Nicosia (@NewsPolitics) April 12, 2022
Wallace is now starting to look like he’s regretting his decision to leave his former network as he’s annoyed with Fox News’ coverage of the 2020 election and, in particular, host Tucker Carlson.
Axios also reported yesterday that a large number of funds that were set to allocate to the streaming service are going to be cut:
The news giant was initially planning to invest around $1 billion in the service over the next four years.
Hundreds of millions of dollars are expected to be cut from that original investment total.
To date, around $300 million has been spent on the subscription service, which includes a sizable marketing investment.
The new company’s leadership team still has yet to decide the ultimate fate of CNN+. CNN’s new boss, Chris Licht, will start May 1.
Charles Gasparino of Fox News also reported last week how the the new streaming service is a flop.
According to the Fox Business reporter:
“Breaking: @CNNplus employees bracing for layoffs possibly as soon as May amid projections of lackluster sales of new streaming channel; CNN employees say new streaming channel could be merged into larger @discoveryplus as early as May unless subscriptions pick up.”
Breaking: @CNNplus employees bracing for layoffs possibly as soon as May amid projections of lackluster sales of new streaming channel; CNN employees say new streaming channel could be merged into larger @discoveryplus as early as May unless subscriptions pick up 130 @FoxBusiness
— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) March 30, 2022
CNN’s rep Matt Dornic then also commented that the network is doing just fine.
Dornic said, “For the record, we are VERY happy with the launch of CNN+ and are only bracing for a long run of success.”
A response by Gasparino was sent to Dornic’s comment while mocking him as CNN didn’t respond to his tweet but only their representative.
“The ‘well oiled’ @CNN PR Flack department won’t respond to my calls for comment but tweets out their response. Nice,” he said.
The “well oiled” @CNN PR Flack department won’t respond to my calls for comment but tweets out their response. Nice https://t.co/jvSLIv3lie
— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) March 30, 2022
In an interview with The New York Times, the former Fox News host took a number of swipes at his former place of employment.
After he left Fox News, Wallace will no longer cover politics but will only interview cultural figures.
Wallace said of his decision to leave Fox News:
“I’m fine with opinion: conservative opinion, liberal opinion. But when people start to question the truth — Who won the 2020 election? Was Jan. 6 an insurrection? — I found that unsustainable.”
He added that he spent “a lot of 2021 looking to see if there was a different place for me to do my job.”
He also added that he was “so alarmed by Mr. Carlson’s documentary ‘Patriot Purge’ — which falsely suggested the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was a ‘false flag’ operation intended to demonize conservatives — that he complained directly to Fox News management.”
“Before, I found it was an environment in which I could do my job and feel good about my involvement at Fox,” he said. “And since November of 2020, that just became unsustainable, increasingly unsustainable as time went on.”
Sources: Conservative Brief, The New York Times
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