CNN Airport Network – the service that broadcast the content of the cable news channel in the terminal waiting areas across the country – will be discontinued on March 31.
The end of the service, launched in 1990, was announced Tuesday in a staff memo by CNN President Jeff Zucker.
He said the decline in airline passenger traffic due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the increase in available streaming news video on cell phones and other Internet-connected devices led to the decision.
The ad-supported CNN Airport Network was no longer a lucrative operation for the WarnerMedia unit, according to people who were informed about the matter and who were not authorized to comment publicly. About two dozen employees at CNN’s headquarters in Atlanta will lose their jobs with the closure.
CNN Airport Network has been shown on 1,800 screens at 54 airports in the US and Bermuda. The bespoke service featured segments from CNN and other Turner channels such as HLN and TNT.
Coverage of air disasters and stories not suitable for viewing by children was kept out of service.
The network helped give CNN brands a captivated audience, even though the company had new competition from competitors Fox News and MSNBC. Exposure to international travelers has also helped build CNN’s reputation as a global news source.
“Saying goodbye to such a beloved brand is not easy,” Zucker said in his memo. “It has also become an iconic part of the travel experience in this country.”