As if adding an entertainment segment wasn't enough to boost consumer viewers, CNN's CEO Jeffrey Bewkes decided to increase advertising within the network.
"Chief Executive Jeffrey Bewkes announced the decision in the company's first-quarter earnings report, which showed strength in advertising sales on cable television networks like CNN and TBS"
Bewkes split off cable services from AOL internet into two separate stocks due to the fact that AOL has experienced a sharp fall in revenue. He plans to boost advertising in the CNN and TBS networks to increase profitablity. Time Warner Inc plans to fully separate its cable services division to refocus as a pure media content company to bolster their ailing stock price.
Revenue at its cable network division rose 10 percent to $2.7 billion, driven by subscription fees and a 13 percent rise in ad sales. "For the first time in six years, CNN beat out News Corp's Fox News in viewership among the 18-49 and 25-54 age groups, during the first quarter," Time Warner's Jeffrey Bewkes said.
I understand the necessity to run a profit driven business, especially when that business is one of the select few who control the US media, but adding more advertising to the already entertainment-starry-eyed CNN network will add to the potency of viewers loosing interest. Advertisements make people feel disconnected to their original televised programs and along with distractions from a growing entertainment segment on CNN, I just feel that it would contribute to a new CNN image that connotates a lesser form of news-reporting.
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