CNN International (PatrZDZ's vision)

**Cable News Network International** or **CNN International** (**CNNi**, simply branded on-air as **CNN**) is an international television channel and website owned by CNN Global. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates with sister network CNN's national and international news bureaus. Unlike its sister channel, CNN, a North American-only subscription service, CNN International is carried on a variety of TV platforms across the world, and broadcast from studios inside and outside the US, in Atlanta, New York City, London, Mumbai, Hong Kong, and Abu Dhabi. In some countries, it is available as a free-to-air network.

## History

### Early years

CNN International began broadcasting on September 1, 1985, at first primarily broadcasting to American business travelers in hotels. The first studio for CNNI was at CNN's original studio building known as Techwood, home at that time to all of Turner Broadcasting System's channels. Today, it is home to the Turner Studios complex that houses the entertainment channels. Other early studios in Atlanta were tucked away in various corners of the CNN Center, and the newsroom lacked even a digital clock. The vast majority of the network's programming originally consisted of simulcasts of the two domestic CNN channels (CNN/US and Headline News). In the United Kingdom, the channel began broadcasting on September 17, 1987, the office was located at 25/28 Old Burlington Street, London. In 1990, however, the amount of news programming produced by CNNI especially for international viewers increased significantly. A new newsroom and studio complex was built in 1994, as CNN decided to compete against BBC World Service Television's news programming. CNNI emerged as an internationally oriented news channel, with staff members of various national backgrounds, even though some accusations of a pro-U.S. editorial bias persist. CNN International was awarded the Liberty Medal on July 4, 1997. Ted Turner, in accepting the medal on behalf of the network, said: "My idea was, we're just going to give people the facts... We didn't have to show liberty and democracy as good, and show socialism or totalitarianism as bad. If we just showed them both the way they were ... clearly everybody's going to choose liberty and democracy."

### New international era (1995–2005)

In 1995, creative director Morgan Almeida defined a progressive rebranding strategy, to target CNNI's diverse global market, making the on-air look less overtly American and with a cleaner, simpler "international" aesthetic going forward. The word "International" in the channel's logo was replaced with a globe, and the new branding featured numerous international locations filmed in time-lapse, channel idents created in CGI with Velvet Design in Munich, and a news brand designed with The Attik in New York.

### 2006–2009 revamp

The network undertook another major rebranding effort in 2006 overseen by Mark Wright and London agency Kemistry. The ticker was replaced by a flipper, on-screen graphics were more unified and from October 2007 until August 2008, new studios were progressively rolled out. However, on January 1, 2009, CNN International adopted the "lower-thirds" that CNN/US had introduced a month earlier which were inspired by the clean modern design of the CNNI rebrand efforts.

### Going beyond borders (2009–2013)

On September 21, 2009, the channel launched a new tagline "Go Beyond Borders", along with a new logo, and consolidated its general newscasts (World News, CNN Today, World News Asia, World News Europe and Your World Today) into a single newscast entitled World Report.

The slogan "Go Beyond Borders" emphasizes the international perspective that gives the information in this string and the plurality of the audiences. With this tagline, CNN also refers to the various platforms to disseminate their contents. The new image was created by the creativity and marketing department, and agency CNN Tooth & Nail. The makeover of CNN International has subject to a lot of criticism on both the new prime time lineup and the redesigned graphics.

On January 11, 2009, in a bid to compete directly with Al Jazeera English, the network launched a new production center: CNN Abu Dhabi, based in the United Arab Emirates.

### This is CNN (2013–present)

"This is CNN" represents CNN International's rebrand with new sets and output in full 16:9 high definition. The "This is CNN" slogan is also used on its sister network CNN in USA. The managing director of CNN International from 2003 to May 2019 was Tony Maddox.

## Regional versions

CNNI can be seen in more than 151 million television households in more than 200 countries and territories through a network of 23 satellites. Since September 1997, CNNI has been regionalized into five separately scheduled channels: CNN International Europe/Middle East/Africa, CNN International Asia Pacific, CNN International South Asia, CNN International Latin America and CNN International USA.

Each channel has a different schedule to the others. The London and Hong Kong bureaus produce 50 and 30 hours per week of programming respectively, the others substantially less. Occasionally CNNI draws from the CNN/US feed for news coverage and for programmes such as The Source or State of the Union. CNNI also simulcasts CNN/U.S. newscasts whenever major events happen in the United States or around the world. Likewise, CNN/U.S. occasionally turns to CNNI newscasts, primarily when major international news breaks during overnight hours in the U.S.

## High definition

CNN International HD is the high-definition simulcast feed of the channel broadcasting at 1920x1080i, which was launched in September 2012. Prior to June 3, 2013, only programming from CNN/U.S. was available natively in HD, while shows made for CNN International were produced in 4:3 576i. In February 2013, the European SD feed of CNN International began broadcasting in widescreen by downscaling the HD feed, which resulted in all 4:3-native programming being broadcast in pillarbox until the June 3 switchover, and finalized on June 17 of the same year, when the switchover was completed.

Following the March 2003 launch of CNNj, a live relay of CNN/U.S. and CNN International, with simultaneous audio translation into Japanese, starting in late 2010, the high definition feed of CNN/U.S. was launched in Japan under the name CNN HD. CNN/U.S. (both SD and HD) is also available on China-based satellite service DishHD, a subsidiary of Dish Network in the United States.

On June 28, 2016, CNN International HD was launched for Sky and BSB customers in the UK, making the next news channel launch in the 600s. The HD version is available free-to-air within the British Isles, and is provided on satellite and IPTV services, and also live-streamed for U.K. users (and geo-blocked outside the U.K.), through CNN International's official U.K. video site. However, viewers with non-proprietary Freesat boxes will need to add the channel manually as Freesat does not market CNN International HD publicly as part of its offerings.

## Online

CNN debuted its news website CNN.com (initially an experiment known as CNN Interactive) on August 30, 1995. The site attracted growing interest over its first decade and is now one of the most popular news websites in the world. The widespread growth of blogs, social media and user-generated content have influenced the site, and blogs in particular have focused CNN's previously scattershot online offerings, most noticeably in the development and launch of CNN Pipeline in late 2005. In April 2009, CNN.com ranked third place among online global news sites in unique users in the U.S. according to Nielsen/NetRatings; with an increase of 11% over the previous year.

CNN Pipeline was the name of a paid subscription service, its corresponding website, and a content delivery client that provided streams of live video from up to four sources (or "pipes"), on-demand access to CNN stories and reports, and optional pop-up "news alerts" to computer users. The installable client was available to users of PCs running Microsoft Windows. There was also a browser-based "web client" that did not require installation. In July 2007, the service was discontinued and replaced with a free streaming service.

The now-defunct topical news program Judy Woodruff's Inside Politics was the first CNN program to feature a round-up of blogs in 2005. Blog coverage was expanded when Inside Politics was folded into The Situation Room. In 2006, CNN launched CNN Exchange and CNN iReport, initiatives designed to further introduce and centralize the impact of everything from blogging to citizen journalism within the CNN brand. CNN iReport which features user-submitted photos and video, has achieved considerable traction, with increasingly professional-looking reports filed by amateur journalists, many still in high school or college. The iReport gained more prominence when observers of the Virginia Tech shootings sent-in first hand photos of what was going during the shootings.

In early 2008, CNN began maintaining a live streaming broadcast available to those who receive CNN at home. CNN International is broadcast live, as part of the RealNetworks SuperPass subscription outside the U.S. CNN also offers several RSS feeds and podcasts.

On October 24, 2009, CNN launched a new version of the CNN.com website, revamping it adding a new "sign up" option where users may create their own user name, a new "CNN Pulse" (beta) feature along with a new red color theme. However, most of the news archived on the website has been deleted. CNN also has a channel in the popular video-sharing site YouTube, but its videos can only be viewed in the United States, a source of criticism among YouTube users worldwide.

CNN also maintains a wire service known as CNN Wire, a CNN Newsource division.