CNNfn, the financial network of CNN News Group, will shut down mid-December. An e-mail circulated to CNN’s staff from Jim Walton, president of CNN News Group, announced the news Thursday morning.
The channel, which launched in 1995, is currently available in about 30 million homes but does not publish ratings. CNN never gained much momentum for the financial network, with carriage mostly on digital cable. The company shut down its sports network, CNNsi, for similar reasons several years ago.
Walton attributed the move to cancel CNNfn to a “exponential growth in the television marketplace,” assuring staff members that he is “proud of CNNfn and the product we have provided to consumers, cable operators and advertisers for nearly nine years.”
CNNfn’s signature shows including Open House and Dolans Unscripted as well as other business and financial news content will move to the company’s fully distributed networks.
Lou Dobbs Tonight and In The Money will air on CNN/U.S. and the company will continue to operate its financial web site, CNNMoney. The network’s some 100 employees will “assume other roles within CNN,” according to the e-mail.
