CNN’s Free, Ad-Supported Channel Is Finding Success in Its First Year

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CNN's Free, Ad-Supported Channel Is Finding Success in Its First Year

CNN's Melody Taylor explains how CNN Headlines has found its audience

By Mark Mwachiro

CNN has been making a concerted effort to widen its digital portfolio . It launched its CNN Weather app in May; the CNN All Access subscription debuted in October 2025; and now, it’s celebrating the first year of its free, ad-supported streaming channel, CNN Headlines.

The FAST channel soft-launched in July 2025 , with live and original programming, including two hours of a new, live show, CNN Headline Express, at 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. ET. The addition of the 5 p.m. newscast in August 2025 marked the full launch of the streaming channel.

Thanks to its mix of quick headlines, buzzy interviews, and high-level storytelling, CNN Headlines has been an under-the-radar success story at the network in its first year.

Since January, CNN Headlines has almost doubled its audience. In the just-concluded quarter, it grew by +192% vs. a year ago and +51% for unique viewers.*

Linear CNN viewers can also sample CNN Headlines, as CNN Headline Express airs at 5 a.m. ET, the slot previously held by Early Start. The streaming channel has also secured new partners this year, including Roku, Amazon, and Vizio, with more to come.

Overseeing this entire operation is Melody Taylor , senior director of U.S. programming at CNN and executive producer of CNN Headlines. The Atlanta-based executive has been with the network since 2012, played a central role in major programming and platform initiatives, and has held leadership roles across CNN, HLN, and CNN International.

“At a time when there’s a lot of ambiguity when it comes to journalism, CNN investing in something like this was so exciting,” Taylor said about the launch of CNN Headlines.

TVNewser recently spoke to Taylor, who discussed CNN Headlines’ success and why the comparison to it being a digital version of the linear channel HLN does not exactly match.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How would you describe CNN Headlines to those not familiar with it?

Taylor : CNN Headlines is our live network that we have for free, ad-supported television, FAST. The biggest thing is we’re just doing a lot of live news, fun stories, quick stories, casual stories, just a whole different product; it’s pretty fun.

Is CNN Headlines the digital reincarnation of HLN?

I spent a lot of time over at HLN because I was on Robin Meade ‘s show, Morning Express. I’m going to say that, in some ways, it is very similar, but Morning Express and HLN had their own space and time. The fact that it was a linear product meant it had its own boundaries, its own fan base. While there are some things that we have taken on, that Express kind of feeling—trying to do as many stories as we can, trying to make sure that folks are entertained as well—we’re taking some pieces of that. But what I love about it is, because of how FAST works, people are choosing this show in a different way.

What was it like launching CNN Headlines from the ground up, and what did that take?

We started fiddling around with the idea because it’s been curated clips for quite some time. The concept was first tossed around maybe about a year and a half before we went into activation, where we started hiring. I want to say that once we got the green light to get going, within a matter of three months, we were in place and live on the air. The first show was July 4th; we did our soft launch of morning shows, and then we added the 5 p.m. show later in August, which is when our anniversary truly is.

One year on, what has been the response to CNN Headlines?

Just walking around the building, you have so many CNN employees who are happy to have a place like CNN Headlines to get their news. I think that’s a testament to what’s happening outside as well, because from what we’ve seen, we know from the moment we started, the audience, in terms of people who spend time watching, is up +179%, which is crazy and exciting. Even our unique viewers are up +58%. We have lots of folks interacting with [anchor Brad Smith ] from all over the world, because we started the experiment of putting CNN Headlines at 5 a.m. exclusively on CNN Linear. He’s getting a lot of feedback from international viewers who enjoy watching that show.

What news event has defined CNN Headlines in its first year?

I don’t know that there would be one, because if you think about it, we’re never going to be a place where we’re just going to enroll in all-in-all coverage. But I will tell you that when Charlie Kirk was murdered, we were live and on the air, not in the same way that CNN was, but in our own way. We also were able to do our own coverage of the State of the Union, and the most fun for me was that we got to do live coverage of the [New York Knicks] ticker parade, which was incredible.

CNN is playing catch-up with the launch of FAST and its digital products. What advantages do you see from starting from this position?

What we always knew was that we would have to be different. If you think about places like [CBS News or ABC News], those folks don’t have cable channels, so their FAST channel could be a lot of different things. We have a unique position that we were playing from, and so it took us a little time to figure out what that looks like. But I also believe that, in the end, we are figuring out what works for us, and when we keep it in this casual, fast-paced, energetic environment, we’re finding that people like watching.

Will there be an increase in live programming, or is it still going to remain the status quo?

I’m never going to say never. I’m just glad to be a part of a group that the company is investing in. I believe if they come and say, “Let’s do another live hour,” we’ll be ready for it. The viewers are certainly there.

In addition to being the ep of CNN Headlines, you are senior director of U.S. programming at CNN; what does that entail?

A lot. They’ve allowed me to do a lot of work when it comes to innovation. I spend a lot of my time figuring out how to make work easier for every journalist in our building. I also work on the live specials we’re doing, like Thanksgiving in America and the daytime version of our New Year’s Eve special. I get to be a jack-of-all-trades around here. It does keep me very busy, but I kind of like being able to hop around and not be stuck to one thing.

*Source: Amagi Analytics (Anoki, LG, Plex, Scripps, TCL IDEO, Vizio) and partner provided (Amazon Prime, Local Now, Pluto, Roku, Xumo). Amazon Prime and Xumo Monthly uniques contain estimates. Uniques are not available for Roku or Local Now.

Mark Mwachiro is a TVNewser contributor who has been writing for the blog since March 2022. Based out of New York, Mark has also contributed to ADWEEK.

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