{"id":248235,"date":"2026-01-20T15:15:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T15:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/248235\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T15:15:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T15:15:08","slug":"cnn-revenue-revealed-in-internal-financial-projections-for-news-outlet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/248235\/","title":{"rendered":"CNN Revenue Revealed in Internal Financial Projections for News Outlet"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tFor the first time, internal financial projections of CNN<\/a> have been broken out by Warner Bros. Discovery<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe company disclosed the numbers in a proxy filing released in connection with its planned spinoff of Discovery Global, of which CNN will be a major part.<\/p>\n

\n\tCNN is projected to have $1.8 billion in revenue in 2026, according to the filing, rising to $1.9 billion in 2027, $2 billion in 2028 and $2.2 billion by 2030. CNN\u2019s adjusted EBITDA in 2026 is estimated to be about $600 million, before falling to $500 million in 2027 and remaining flat at $600 million through 2030.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe company says that it expects \u201cnew platform revenue\u201d (i.e. streaming) to account for $600 million of revenue for CNN by 2030. Still, CNN is facing the same pay-TV headwinds as everyone else. The filing indicates that the company expects CNN to face \u201ccore revenue declines at (4)% compound annual growth rate, offset by on-going savings initiatives to stabilize Adjusted EBITDA and pivot resources towards growth opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTax documents disclosed<\/a> in a lawsuit last year indicated that CNN had revenue of $2.2 billion in 2021, falling to $1.8 billion in 2023, suggesting that the channel has stabilized, if WBD\u2019s projections hold up.<\/p>\n

\n\tWBD warns in the filing that the details were \u201cnot prepared with a view to public disclosure\u201d but are being provided \u201cbecause such information was presented to the WBD Board in connection with its evaluation of the Merger Agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby and its overall assessment of Discovery Global.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCNN is in the midst of a moment of transformation under CEO Mark Thompson, who launched a premium subscription offering last year with a mandate to bring the cable channel fully into the digital age.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut the filing also shows just how important CNN is to the cable ecosystem: Per Discovery\u2019s filing, all of its other cable channels combined (including TNT, TBS, HGTV, Food Network, etc) are expected to see their revenue fall from $9.9 billion in 2026 to $7.7 billion in 2030, with adjusted EBITDA falling from $3.8 billion to $1.9 billion over that time period.<\/p>\n

\n\tBy breaking out CNN\u2019s financials from the rest of the Discovery lineup, it is also possible that the company is getting ahead of potential interest in a deal to acquire the channel and brand. <\/p>\n

\n\tCNN has long been seen as a potential acquisition target thanks to its global reach and internationally-known brand. it has also been a focus point for President Trump, who indicated last month that the future of CNN could be a factor in his administration\u2019s review of any deal.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think it\u2019s imperative that CNN be sold,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the first time, internal financial projections of CNN have been broken out by Warner Bros. Discovery. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248236,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[15394,146,85,46,411,9483],"class_list":{"0":"post-248235","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-cnn","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-tv","13":"tag-warner-bros-discovery"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}