CNNfn, the financial news cable network owned by Time Warner, will go dark by mid-December. The shutdown comes after a long losing ratings battle with rival CNBC.
The network, launched in 1995, competed for viewers as U.S. interest in the financial markets surged, but it failed to garner wide distribution on the largest U.S. cable operators.
CNNfn is distributed in about 30 million of 100 million U.S. homes. CNBC, owned by General Electric Co.’s NBC Universal division, is available in about 86 million homes and 200 million worldwide.
About 50 of CNNfn’s 110 employees will remain with the company. The other 60 employees will be offered an opportunity to reapply for other jobs within the CNN news group.
