This. CNN has loss the gravitas it believes it has to foolishly have the hubris to believe there’s enough people to see their “anchors” do side/passion/fluff work. If it was bundled with the full channel they may have been able to, but unlike ESPN+, they don’t have content for an audience that would succumb to their efforts.

Edit: ex-CEO Jeff Zucker and old execs made the decision. If you look at the photos online of the teams, it was clear that this outcome was inevitable.