
Warner Bros Discovery has launched a new free, ad-supported streaming channel for the international version of its news channel CNN, the company announced this week.
CNN Fast will offer a curated selection of short-form news clips from CNN International and CNN’s news brands, covering the top stories of the day as well as business, sports, entertainment and climate headlines.
“CNN Fast offers a new and different user experience to the main CNN broadcast channel,” Humphrey Black, the head of distribution strategy at CNN International Commercial, said in a statement. “By working with established [connected TV] platform partners, where we have already seen considerable success for CNN content, we’re now able to connect with more viewers and households via the devices and formats that they already enjoy.”
CNN Fast is the second free, ad-supported streaming channel to repurpose the cable network’s news clips. In the United States, a similar aggregated streaming feed, called CNN RePlay, is distributed through Paramount Global’s free streaming platform Pluto TV and on Samsung TV Plus.
CNN Fast is being distributed first in Europe, with the streaming channel debuted on Rakuten TV and LG Channels this week. Samsung TV Plus will get access to CNN Fast in June, the company said. Amagi is providing cloud-based technology to power the channel.
“This is a great opportunity to showcase highlights of some of the best CNN content to a broader audience, offering different genres of stories presented in a fast-paced, short-form style that will appeal to a younger and wider demographic,” Meara Erdozain, the senior vice president of CNN International, said on Tuesday.
CNN Fast is currently available to streamers in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. More countries and platforms are expected to be announced later this year.