The short life of CNN+ left its parent network without an official home for original shows, but the broadcaster now appears to have a makeshift solution. Discovery+ has launched a CNN Originals hub that offers more than 800 episodes of library material, including Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, HLN’s Vengeance lineup and movies like Race for the Vaccine. Some originals will come to the service after their runs on cable, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) said.
The hub is available through the Discovery+ website and apps for all supported platforms. More show announcements are due in the “months to come,” WBD said.
Discovery+ won’t be a go-to source for all of CNN’s on-demand material. The CNN+ show Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? is coming to HBO Max this fall, for instance. However, this does make Discovery+ a more compelling subscription if its existing batch of reality shows and documentaries wasn’t enough.
This situation won’t last for long. WBD plans to merge HBO Max and Discovery+ in summer 2023, so you’ll likely have access to a unified CNN catalog within a year. Whether or not it includes everything you’re looking for is another matter. HBO Max is pulling some shows (including some with unreleased seasons) as part of WBD’s broader cost-cutting efforts, and it’s not clear if CNN productions are exempt from this strategy.
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