The Newsroom

How can CNN make $800m?

(January 2008)

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SN
SN2005
Ok, apologies if this infringes on the rights of those who can only stomach endless drivel of tickers heights and pixels. But I gotta get this burning question out.

Its got two parts...

How can CNN make $800m per year (Headline News makes $150m)?
e.g. what is their business model?

and...

Can British broadcasters learn anything from this?


Now I know with regards to the first part there are things like sponsorship (I've just read that CNN's Election sponsorship could be a multi-million dollar deal) etc and obviously they have a lot more time given over to adverts and things. But have you seen the type of FOX News' adverts in the US? It's all fixident and car insurance and JML-ish ads which I shouldn't think would pay alot.

Can rich people 'donate' to these channels?

Merchandise etc?

Selling programs to overseas networks?

I read a while back that Katie Couric of CBS News is in a $18m contract. OK I know she's one in thousands and not of even a news channel, but Anderson Cooper of CNN gets similarly high wages (I think about £5m) and I would guess the likes of O'Reilly, Hannity et al aren't exactly hard up.

So, over to you. Any answers you've got or guesses you can give I'd be interested in hearing.
JO
Joshua
The CNN Centre is a tourist spot in Atlanta, they have a massive mall and theres also fast food restraunts etc. They also have a CNN Centre Tour, which will make a lot of money. Also, the Omni Hotel is joined onto the CNN Centre, maybe CNN own part of it ?
BR
britbat
Surely mainly through the selling of advertisments and probably the redistribution of online and onscreen content.
SN
SN2005
josh205 posted:
The CNN Centre is a tourist spot in Atlanta, they have a massive mall and theres also fast food restraunts etc. They also have a CNN Centre Tour, which will make a lot of money. Also, the Omni Hotel is joined onto the CNN Centre, maybe CNN own part of it ?


Cheers.

Was aware of the tour although I didn't know how popular it was and whether it was just like a Lourdes for tv news enthusiasts.
JO
Joshua
I'll just tell you a bit more about the CNN Centre, from Wikipedia:

Quote:
The CNN Center also houses a major hotel (an Omni Hotels franchise owned by Turner Broadcasting) and a large atrium food court frequented by local business employees, tourists, event goers from Philips Arena and the Georgia Dome, and conference attendees from the Georgia World Congress Center. CNN's multi-channel output to the world is broadcast on large screens around the center. Studio tours are available and include demonstrations of the technologies such as Chroma key as well as visits to viewing galleries overlooking the newsrooms and anchors of CNN, CNN Headline News and CNN en Español.

The atrium escalator that is used to transport visitors on the CNN tour has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest freestanding (supported only at the ends) escalator in the world.

MARTA rail service is provided to the CNN Center at the Dome/GWCC/Philips Arena/CNN Center station.

Because the building is near to an the Olympic Park, visitors tend to visit both places, and as you can see, theres a direct rail service to the CNN Centre. It really sounds like a tourist and big iconic building in Atlanta.
Here's a picture, were you can see just how big and busy the centre is on a daily basis
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh24/justjoshhh/49806029_58c3451886.jpg
RR
RR
They charge between 33 and 37 cents per customer to every cable and satellite operator in the US. Given their reach and the US population, that adds up to quite a sum.

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