Matt Buckler: Flooded streaming market doomed CNN+

Apr. 28—Apparently, CNN can't get rid of its streaming service, CNN+, quickly enough.

The service heads to the scrapheap today, two days ahead of last week's announcement that stunned the cable and streaming world. After investing $100 million, including $9 million to lure anchor Chris Wallace from Fox News, the network is shutting down, less than one month after it was up and running.

Subscribers have been notified and those who paid their $5.95 per month in advance will get their refunds.

CNN+, however, becomes known as one of the most gigantic failures in TV history.

The experts will have a field day coming up with the cause of death for CNN+. Here's my theory.

There were just too many streaming networks flooding the market. Every network sounded great until you looked at one component — price. The average person has reached the limit of what it could afford for news and entertainment and CNN+ didn't fit in. They didn't really need it, so why should they pay extra for it?

Too many networks means that some of them are going to fail. CNN+ was the first. And a high-profile network such as that is going to get a lot of attention.

It's just too bad it didn't get a lot of viewers.

Steele deal

ESPN "SportsCenter" anchor Sage Steele is in a unique position these days — working for ESPN while suing ESPN.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Steele filed a lawsuit against her network in Connecticut, claiming ESPN put her on the sidelines last year for comments she made about the network's COVID-19 vaccine policy.

While Steele was never suspended, she said she was taken off the air for a while because her anti-vaccine stance.

Suing your employer doesn't seem like a good way to generate job security, but the New York Post is reporting that Steele's contract isn't close to expiring and that there are no plans to take her off the air.

Steele has been with ESPN since 2007, primarily as an anchor for "SportsCenter."

She should have no problem finding another job if she needs to. It will be interesting to see, however, how much longer she can hang on to her current position.

'This Is Us' tops chart

There are shows with larger audiences, but NBC's "This Is Us" has its following where it matters the most — in the key demographics.

While Tuesday's episode of the drama grabbed 4.926 million total viewers, which was fourth overall, it finished No. 1 among viewers 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54. That was enough to give "This Is Us" a ratings win Tuesday.

The "FBI" dominated in total viewers for CBS. "FBI" pulled in 7.555 million viewers to lead the way, while "FBI International" was second at 6.095 million and "FBI: Most Wanted" was third at 5.544 million.

"This Is Us" had its audience in the right places as far as advertisers were concerned.

The cable ratings were paced by the NBA playoffs, which collected the first three spots on the ratings list.

Finishing a solid fourth, however, was Bravo's "Real Housewives of New Jersey." Fox News Channel's Tucker Carlson was fifth.

A lot has happened to those New Jersey housewives over the years, but they apparently still have a following.

Follow Matt Buckler for more television, radio, and sports coverage on the JI's Twitter @journalinquirer, and see his articles on the Journal Inquirer Facebook page.