Cable News Network

Cable News Network

• Founder: Ted Turner.
• Distinction: World’s first live, round-the-clock, all-news television network.
• Primary products: TV, radio, and Internet news programs.
• Annual sales: Unavailable.
• Number of employees: 4,000.
• Major competitors: CNBC, MSNBC, Fox News Channel.
• Chairman, President and CEO: W. Thomas Johnson.
• Headquarters: Atlanta, Ga.
• Year founded: 1980.
• Web site: www.cnn.com 

Cable News Network

Many Americans tuned into Cable News Network for the very first time when former Beatle John Lennon was gunned down in New York, exactly six months after the station’s 1980 debut. Stunned fans—at least those in the 1.7 million homes then capable of receiving the all-news channel—found they could get updates on the riveting story whenever they wanted. For those accustomed to obtaining news on TV only when the major networks and their affiliates decided to broadcast it, this proved to be both exhilarating and addictive.

It was not yet enough, though, to put the fledgling station on the map. Unknown on-air personalities at its Atlanta headquarters and eight bureaus across the United States struggled to gain respectability. Expenses were so tight that ceiling panels sometimes crashed down during live reports. Bargain-basement electronic equipment regularly failed. Few viewers even knew of its existence.

But all that changed as CNN improved its resources and a series of compelling events drove an audience to its spot on the cable dial. As U.S. hostages were released by their Iranian captors, as an Air Florida jet slid into Washington’s icy Potomac, and as the Challenger space shuttle exploded over Florida, more Americans accessed CNN and many found it a credible source for 24-hour coverage of the stories that had their neighbors talking. By the time 18-month-old Baby Jessica tumbled into a Texas well in 1987 and captivated the nation for 58 hours until her successful rescue, CNN was the place to turn for breaking news. Four years later, when Operation Desert Storm mobilized and American F-117s began strafing Baghdad, some 11.5 million viewers were glued to its coverage from the besieged Iraqi capital and surrounding flash points.
Today, of course, CNN is one of the world’s most respected outlets for television news. Specialized auxiliary channels focus exclusivelyon headlines, finance and sports; others broadcast in languages including Spanish and Turkish. Radio stations and an array of Web sites have been added. Some 78 million U.S. households, and more than a billion people worldwide, have access to at least one of its services. And now, as its corporate parent is absorbed by the world’s largest Internet company and aggressive competitors are just a few remote-control clicks away, it prepares to do battle in the new millenium.