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CNN Center, Atlanta
This is the final part of a three-part interview; part one covered CNN Pipeline, and part two covered the network's plans to relaunch CNN.com.
The subject of CNN's approach to the UK news market first came up in our interview when we asked whether there were any plans to use CNN Pipeline to distribute programming from CNN/US in the international marketplace.
"Our principle thought on it is that every user in the UK or not has said this is great, please give me more," explained Payne. "There's a voracious appetite for content, whether it's for the US network in the UK, or International in the US, CNN Turk in Turkey or IBN... so the short answer is that we hear the consumer demand, now we need to figure out how we can satisfy it and also keep our other partners happy and our business strong. And we're going to work through those strategies."
On whether CNN saw a larger opening in the UK news market, particularly in the wake of the closure of the ITV News Channel, Payne's answer covered CNN's approach to the market both in terms of television and new media.
"The challenging thing always for us in the UK market both on-air and online are the inherent advantages that the BBC has on the business side," he said. "There's a government subsidy issue there. So, we have to be not only responsible journalists but also responsible business people to our shareholders. And I think you see some of that reflected in the scope and scale of the other services vis-à-vis ours because the money hasn't been there.
"That said, a couple of things are striking about the marketplace. One, more and more people are spending more and more of their time online. And with the eyeballs will come dollars. With the dollar comes the opportunity to expand and make the investment. That hasn't been the case throughout the last 5 years, but I do think that the market has turned a corner. We'll see more investment in European markets where the investment is justified and certainly the UK would be probably top of that list."
