CNN mobile app: breaking news on the go
At first sight, one of the features that stands out in the CNN mobile app is the “Watch CNN” button, offering a live stream of their TV content. The fact that this functionality is located so higher up in the app indicates that is one of the favorite sections, and it makes sense as the CNN value proposition as a brand is all about live coverage, visuals, being at the scene of the news at the same moment they are happening.
The use of multimedia is very loyal to the CNN concept: it’s mostly video. This coherence between the television and the mobile experience sets users expectations: they won’t find anything different on the app. What they can do, instead, is watch the live stream at their own time, or choosing programs from the menu to watch them whenever and wherever they want, instead of having to follow a pre-established agenda.
If the CNN audience is interested in breaking news, video stories, their demands are met by the app, which is loyal to the overall brand concept: a 24-hour news stream that never stops, available for you through visuals in any screen (your television, phone or ipad). The audience targeted are people who like consuming live events and — given the immediate nature of this kind of events — it wouldn’t be surprising if they used the CNN app as a second screen, to share and talk in social media about current affairs they are watching on TV.
Breaking news are always highlighted at the top of the screen. There’s one big, main story and then several continue below. Most of them are video. Design is subtle and repetitive: stories are represented by a main image (static or a video) and a short headline, and all of them fit in the same space, which means that the reader need to decide which stories are more important.
Like TV, the storytelling style is very colloquial and straight-forward. Headlines sometimes include questions or self-explanatory data, or make reference to a character or a situation in a really conversational way (for example, instead of Michelle Obama they would simply call her First Lady, leaving out the name in the headline). Stories, like the television news, contain some emotional elements to the news, adding a dramatic twist to the info provided. Content is pulled out automatically from the desktop version, with a slight change of headlines, making them shorter, able to fit in a smaller screen.
The features include the latest and the most popular videos, and also a list of topics or sections covered in this forms. Stories can be saved for later and they can also be rated.
Compared to the competition, the app has 40 percent more traffic than Yahoo!-ABC News, CNN said. At the same time, Poynter reported that the CNN app downloads have been very stable over the past years, with 13 million downloads in 2011, and 12 million in 2012 and 2013, respectively.
As for content, CNN has the visuals that other media outlets have a hard time producing. All the staff skillsets are used in service of the app, which presents clearly the work of a team specialized in video production.
The app revenue source is online ads — they are placed next to news stories, with a design looks different from media stories located next to the ad.
One of the experiments I would do to test new responses to the app is including “bonus tracks” or “behind the scenes” videos, adding extra material to what users can see through television. If they had this complementary videos on the app, they would have an extra reason to check it out every day (and a good practice to measure app engagement can be returning loyal users).
