CNN

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Cable News Network (CNN) is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner.[1][2] Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage,[3] and the first all-news television channel in the United States.[4] While the news channel has numerous affiliates, CNN primarily broadcasts from its headquarters at the CNN Center in Atlanta, the Time Warner Center in New York City, and studios in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. CNN is owned by parent company Time Warner, and the U.S. news channel is a division of the Turner Broadcasting System.[5]

CNN is sometimes referred to as CNN/U.S. to distinguish the American channel from its international counterpart, CNN International. As of August 2010, CNN is available in over 100 million U.S. households.[6] Broadcast coverage extends to over 890,000 American hotel rooms,[6] and the U.S broadcast is also shown in Canada. Globally, CNN programming airs through CNN International, which can be seen by viewers in over 212 countries and territories.[7] Starting late 2010, the domestic version CNN/U.S., is available in high definition to viewers in Japan under the name CNN HD. If this is a one-off case or the beginning of an international roll-out of CNN HD with more countries to come is unclear.

Early history

The Cable News Network was launched at 5:00 p.m. EST on Sunday June 1, 1980. After an introduction by Ted Turner, the husband and wife team of David Walker and Lois Hart anchored the first newscast.[8]

Since its debut, CNN has expanded its reach to a number of cable and satellite television companies, several web sites, specialized closed-circuit channels (such as CNN Airport Network), and a radio network. The company has 36 bureaus (10 domestic, 26 international), more than 900 affiliated local stations, and several regional and foreign-language networks around the world. The channel's success made a bona-fide mogul of founder Ted Turner and set the stage for the Time Warner conglomerate's eventual acquisition of Turner Broadcasting.

A companion channel, CNN2, was launched on January 1, 1982 and featured a continuous 24-hour cycle of 30-minute news broadcasts. A year later, it changed its name to "CNN Headline News", and eventually it was simply called "Headline News". (In 2005, Headline News would break from its original format with the addition of Headline Prime, a prime-time programming block that features news commentary; and in 2008 the channel changed its name again, to "HLN".)

Major events

Challenger disaster

On January 28, 1986, CNN was the only television channel to have live coverage of the launch and explosion of Space Shuttle Challenger. The shuttle exploded after lift-off killing seven crew members including Christa McAuliffe, a high school teacher from Concord, New Hampshire to be the first teacher in space. Then-President Ronald Reagan postponed his State of the Union Address that evening. He addressed the nation from the Oval Office.