Greatbigstory

Yes — Great Big Story was shut down by CNN in early 2020 as part of broader cost-cutting across WarnerMedia, just years after it had built a dedicated global audience for its short documentary format. It was later revived under whynow Media, a company devoted to storytelling, and has continued publishing new videos ever since.

Yes — Great Big Story was created and launched by CNN in 2015 as a standalone digital storytelling brand, entirely separate from CNN's news output and focused on uplifting, human-interest short films. After CNN shut it down in 2020, the brand was picked up by whynow Media and relaunched as an independent operation.

whynow Media is the company that now owns and operates Great Big Story, described by the channel itself as a company "devoted to the art of storytelling." It took over the Great Big Story brand after its CNN-era closure and has continued expanding it across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

Great Big Story's recent output has leaned heavily into food travel guides — covering local restaurant scenes in cities like Boston, Madrid, and Bangkok, as well as along Route 66 — reflecting a shift toward practical destination storytelling that pairs naturally with its human-interest roots. Food has become a central lens through which the channel explores culture and place, a format that performs strongly on YouTube.

Great Big Story still operates as a global filmmaking collective covering food, travel, innovation, and remarkable human stories — the food guide format is a significant thread in recent output but sits alongside broader documentary and cultural content. The channel's founding mission of finding the extraordinary hiding in plain sight remains central to its identity across all formats.

Great Big Story's own channel description references "critical acclaim and countless awards" earned since its 2015 launch, and during its CNN era the brand received recognition including Webby Awards for its short-form documentary storytelling. Its cinematic, feel-good approach to human-interest journalism set it apart from other digital video brands and attracted sustained industry recognition.

Named sponsors on Great Big Story's YouTube channel have included Airalo (an international eSIM travel app), Brilliant (an interactive learning platform), MyHeritage (genealogy research), Storyblocks (stock media), and BetterHelp (online therapy). The mix reflects an educated, globally curious audience drawn to self-improvement and travel.

Yes — Airalo, the international eSIM service that lets travelers use local data plans without swapping physical SIM cards, has sponsored content on Great Big Story's YouTube channel. It's a natural partnership given the channel's consistent focus on global food and travel stories from destinations across multiple continents.

Great Big Story was originally launched in 2015 by CNN as a digital-first documentary brand, making it over a decade old as a storytelling concept even after its shutdown and subsequent relaunch under whynow Media. The channel's survival through a full corporate closure and revival speaks to the durability of its human-interest short-film format.

Great Big Story has surpassed six million subscribers on YouTube, placing it firmly in the Mega tier for documentary-style digital media brands on the platform. Its engagement rate runs notably above the category median, suggesting viewers are genuinely invested in the content rather than passively subscribed.