CNN.com To Put Up Subscription Paywall In 2018

The Wall Street Journal reports:

CNN president Jeff Zucker, a veteran TV executive who once warned that the TV business couldn’t afford to trade “analog dollars for digital pennies,” is now embracing online publishing as central to CNN’s model.

After investing in digital verticals focused on business and politics and acquiring an online-video startup, CNN is gearing up for another big step: It plans to launch tiered subscription offerings for its digital news business as early as the second quarter of next year.

A proposed premium offering will give subscribers access to special content on topic-specific verticals such as CNN Money and CNN Politics, built around network personalities. A second option will provide additional, though less specialized, content across all of CNN’s sites. Pricing hasn’t been finalized.