Yes, AT&T spinning off WarnerMedia increases the likelihood of Morning Express’ demise.
Morning Express only gets about 150-200k viewers per day* with just 50k in the key demo. The show likely doesn’t generate much revenue, as advertising rates are based largely on these numbers.
When AT&T owned WarnerMedia (which itself owns both CNN and HLN,) this lack of rev generation wasn’t much of an issue. AT&T's primary interest is to sell cable packages. In effort to attract/retain cable subscribers, they want to offer a variety of news channels. AT&T perceived HLN to be a net gain for subscriber revenue, even if the advert revenue didn’t cover the channel’s expenses.
When the spin-off is complete in Q2 and WarnerMedia is no longer owned by a cable company, HLN and the other channels in the catalogue of this new “WarnerMedia-Discovery” entity will have to prove their value in other ways. HLN’s expenses must be low, as it operates at CNN HQ and presumably uses CNN’s equipment. The flyaway cost is just talent and staff salaries. But when executives begin looking for places to cut costs and increase revenue, I expect there will be arguments to cancel Morning Express and convert HLN into a 24-hour real crime channel.
*
https://ctv.kwayisi.org/networks/hln/mo ... bin-meade/