Comcast takes a swing at news streaming with CNBC+

The news: Comcast is planning to launch a streaming service for financial news network CNBC in Q1 2025, per Variety reporting.

• The service, dubbed CNBC+, will be a lean operation. Unlike other news networks that have attempted to cross the gap to streaming, CNBC+ will not feature any exclusive or original content. Instead, the service will repurpose content from the TV network in addition to providing a “global feed” of news and broadcasts.
• The news comes weeks after Comcast announced that it would split its linear tv and digital video assets, spinning off CNBC and several other networks into a company tentatively named SpinCo.
• CNBC+ is priced at $14.99 a month in the US.

News and streaming: News networks’ difficulty in breaking into streaming is perhaps best summarized by the rapid rise and fall of ill-fated CNN+, a news streaming service that folded weeks after it launched due to low interest. Since then, several networks have experimented with how to attract digital viewers.

• Despite the CNN+ flop, Warner Bros. Discovery has continued experimenting by bringing CNN content to Max. Paramount’s CBS has a news livestreaming service with original content like additional morning news shows. Disney-owned ABC News has also gotten its most prominent news personalities to host additional livestreaming shows.
• This isn’t Comcast’s first rodeo with news streaming, either. MSNBC has experimented with uploading broadcasts of popular shows like “Morning Joe” to Peacock.

Our take: SpinCo’s creation is primarily aimed at reducing the burden of linear TV’s decline from streaming ventures, but the CNBC+ news is the first glimpse at how the newly formed company could attempt to revitalize its networks—though Comcast has said SpinCo could take a year to set up.

CNBC has unique qualities among streaming services. Its daily, moment-by-moment coverage of markets and finance makes it a staple of office buildings and trading floors, and CNBC+ will likely aim to lean into the network’s function as a workday news companion, perhaps by selling enterprise subscriptions.

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