CNN Thursday introduced CNNx, a live news service that lets viewers choose stories and other content in real time.
Alongside CNN’s live television feed, CNNx offers viewers a rundown of stories that show up down the right side of the screen and a menu of digital features, including photo galleries, at the bottom of the screen.
The service will be available immediately on iPads and on TV sets through some distributors set-top boxes later this year, CNN Digital senior VP and general manager K.C. Estenson said at CNN’s upfront presentation in New York Thursday.
“CNNx brings unprecedented control over the live news experience,” Estenson said. “It’s like you’re suddenly the producer of your own newscast.”
The rundown feature gives access to 24-hours worth of TV stores. When news breaks, viewer will have access to digital features as they are created and posted by the editorial staff.
Estenson said CNN’s website is being redesigned so that content is delivered to all devices and to make sure that ad messages travel with the content seamlessly and natively.
CNN has been working with Flipboard, and will be using Flipboard’s large and glossy display ad format on CNN applications, he said.
CNN pointed to figures that show it’s the leader in digital news delivery in terms of multiplatform reach and engagement, with page views and video starts showing huge growth over the past year.
CNN CEO Jeff Zucker also told media buyers about CNN’s All Screen measurement, which is calculated by Nielsen.
“We’ve always known CNN has a substantial out of home unmeasured audience,” Zucker said. “All Screen allows us to measure it on a regular, transparent basis.”
For the first time, All Screen allows CNN to document out-of-home viewing and said that out-of-home viewing gives a 32% lift to CNN’s in-home television audience, Zucker said. The no. 1 place for out-of-home TV viewing is in offices, he said.
CNN will use the All Screen data to create media plans and do post-buy analysis.
