After getting chided on Thursday for running lighthearted spots for Applebee’s and other advertisers right alongside its coverage of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, CNN has removed the ad unit from such news programming.
A spokerson for WarnerMedia, which owns CNN, said in a statement to Adweek/TVNewser, “Squeezeback advertisements have been removed from the coverage.”
But for the time being at least, CNN will cut back the squeezebacks.
These “squeezeback” ad units that prevent programming from being fully interrupted by a commercial are intended to keep viewers from changing the channel, Adweek explains.