CNN

**Cable News Network** (**CNN**) is an American news-based pay television channel owned by **CNN Worldwide**, a unit of the WarnerMedia News & Sports division of AT&T's WarnerMedia. CNN was founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner as a 24-hour cable news channel. Upon its launch, CNN was the first television channel to provide 24-hour news coverage, and was the first all-news television channel in the United States.

While the news channel has numerous affiliates, CNN primarily broadcasts from the Time Warner Center in New York City, and studios in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. Its headquarters at the CNN Center in Atlanta is only used for weekend programming. CNN is sometimes referred to as **CNN/U.S.** (or **CNN Domestic**) to distinguish the American channel from its international sister network, CNN International.

As of August 2010, CNN is available in over 100 million U.S. households. Broadcast coverage of the U.S. channel extends to over 890,000 American hotel rooms, as well as carriage on subscription providers throughout Canada. As of July 2015, CNN is available to about 96,374,000 pay-television households (82.8% of households with at least one television set) in the United States. Globally, CNN programming airs through CNN International, which can be seen by viewers in over 212 countries and territories.

## History

### Early history

*Main article: History of CNN (1980–2003)*
The Cable News Network was launched at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on June 1, 1980. After an introduction by Ted Turner, the husband and wife team of David Walker and Lois Hart anchored the channel's first newscast. Burt Reinhardt, the executive vice president of CNN at its launch, hired most of the channel's first 200 employees, including the network's first news anchor, Bernard Shaw.

Since its debut, CNN has expanded its reach to a number of cable and satellite television providers, several websites, and specialized closed-circuit channels (such as CNN Airport). The company has 42 bureaus (11 domestic, 31 international), more than 900 affiliated local stations (which also receive news and features content via the video newswire service CNN Newsource), 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 conglomerate Time Warner's eventual acquisition of the Turner Broadcasting System in 1996.

A companion channel, CNN2, was launched on January 1, 1982 and featured a continuous 24-hour cycle of 30-minute news broadcasts. The channel, which later became known as CNN Headline News and is now known as simply HLN, eventually focused on live news coverage supplemented by personality-based programs during the evening and primetime hours.

#### Gulf War

The first Persian Gulf War in 1991 was a watershed event for CNN that catapulted the channel past the "Big Three" American networks for the first time in its history, largely due to an unprecedented, historical scoop: CNN was the only news outlet with the ability to communicate from inside Iraq during the initial hours of the Coalition bombing campaign, with live reports from the al-Rashid Hotel in Baghdad by reporters Bernard Shaw, John Holliman and Peter Arnett.

 File:CNN Gulf War nightscope January 1991.jpg
The moment when bombing began was announced on CNN by Shaw on January 16, 1991, as follows:

> "*This is Bernie Shaw. Something is happening outside. ... Peter Arnett, join me here. Let's describe to our viewers what we're seeing... The skies over Baghdad have been illuminated. ... We're seeing bright flashes going off all over the sky.*"
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Unable to immediately broadcast live pictures from Baghdad, CNN's coverage of the initial hours of the Gulf War had the dramatic feel of a radio broadcast – and was compared to legendary CBS news anchor Edward R. Murrow's gripping live radio reports of the German bombing of London during World War II. Despite the lack of live pictures, CNN's coverage was carried by television stations and networks around the world, resulting in CNN being watched by over a billion viewers worldwide.

The Gulf War experience brought CNN some much sought-after legitimacy and made household names of previously obscure reporters. In 2000, media scholar and director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, Robert Thompson, stated that having turned 20, CNN was now the "old guard." Shaw, known for his live-from-Bagdhad reporting during the Gulf War, became CNN's chief anchor until his retirement in 2001. Others include then-Pentagon correspondent Wolf Blitzer (now host of *The Situation Room*) and international correspondent Christiane Amanpour. Amanpour's presence in Iraq was caricatured by actress Nora Dunn as ruthless reporter Adriana Cruz in the 1999 film *Three Kings*. Time Warner-owned sister network HBO later produced a television movie, *Live from Baghdad*, about CNN's coverage of the first Gulf War.

Coverage of the first Gulf War and other crises of the early 1990s (particularly the infamous Battle of Mogadishu) led officials at the Pentagon to coin the term "the CNN effect" to describe the perceived impact of real time, 24-hour news coverage on the decision-making processes of the American government.

#### September 11 attacks

CNN was the first cable news channel to break the news of the September 11 attacks. Anchor Carol Lin was on the air to deliver the first public report of the event. She broke into a commercial at 8:49 a.m. Eastern Time that morning and said:

> "*This just in. You are looking at obviously a very disturbing live shot there. That is the World Trade Center, and we have unconfirmed reports this morning that a plane has crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. CNN Center right now is just beginning to work on this story, obviously calling our sources and trying to figure out exactly what happened, but clearly something relatively devastating happening this morning there on the south end of the island of Manhattan. That is once again, a picture of one of the towers of the World Trade Center.*"
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Sean Murtagh, CNN vice president of finance and administration, was the first network employee on the air. He called into CNN Center from his office at CNN's New York City bureau and reported that a commercial jet had hit the Trade Center.

Daryn Kagan and Leon Harris were live on the air just after 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time as the second plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center and through an interview with CNN correspondent David Ensor, reported the news that U.S. officials determined "that this is a terrorist act." Later, Aaron Brown and Judy Woodruff anchored through the day and night as the attacks unfolded, winning an Edward R. Murrow award for the network. Brown had just joined CNN from ABC to serve as the breaking news anchor. CNN has made archival files of much of the day's broadcast available in five segments, plus an overview.

#### 2008 U.S. election

 File:CNN-YouTube Republican Debate.jpg
Leading up to the 2008 U.S. presidential election, CNN devoted large amounts of its coverage to politics, including hosting candidate debates during the Democratic and Republican primary seasons. On June 3 and 5, CNN teamed up with Saint Anselm College to sponsor the New Hampshire Republican and Democratic Debates. Later in 2007, the channel hosted the first CNN/YouTube presidential debates, a non-traditional format where viewers were invited to pre-submit questions over the internet via the YouTube video-sharing service. In 2008, CNN partnered with the *Los Angeles Times* to host two primary debates leading up to its coverage of Super Tuesday. CNN's debate and election night coverage led to its highest ratings of the year, with January 2008 viewership averaging 1.1 million viewers, a 41% increase over the previous year.

#### 2016 U.S. election

Driven by live coverage of the year's US presidential election, 2016 was CNN's most-watched year in its history. Throughout the campaign, the network aired unedited coverage of many of the Trump campaign rallies. Aides for Republican candidates Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and Ted Cruz accused CNN President Jeff Zucker of undermining their candidates during the Republican primaries. After the election, Zucker acknowledged that it was a mistake to air so many of the campaign rallies. CNN also drew criticism during the election for hiring former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who was still being paid by and was effectively working on behalf of the campaign.

### Trump presidency, AT&T subsidiary

The presidency of Donald Trump has led to many prominent controversies involving CNN. The network was accused by critics of giving disproportionate amounts of coverage to Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. CNN president Jeff Zucker defended CNN against the criticism, commenting that out of the Republican candidates, Trump was the most willing to give on-air interviews. Trump commented upon the allegations during his speech at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), jokingly referring to CNN as the "Clinton News Network".

In January 2017, CNN reported that Trump had been briefed on a classified dossier which detailed compromising personal and financial information allegedly obtained by the Russian government. While CNN did not publish the dossier, Trump criticized the network during a press conference the following day, and refused to take a question from CNN reporter Jim Acosta, claiming that the network was "fake news". On June 26, 2017, CNN investigative journalists Thomas Frank, Eric Lichtblau, and Lex Haris voluntarily resigned after the network retracted an online article which incorrectly connected Trump aide Anthony Scaramucci to a $10 billion Russian investment fund. The network apologized to Scaramucci and admitted that the online story did not meet their editorial standards. Zucker responded by stressing that the network needs to "play error-free ball" when it comes to any future stories about Trump.

In July 2017, Trump posted a video on Twitter of himself tackling Vince McMahon on the ground during WrestleMania 23, edited to replace McMahon's face with the CNN logo. The clip was considered to be a further expression of his opinions regarding the network's quality of coverage. Several media columnists and Democratic politicians condemned the retweeted video, concerned that its substance—given the tone of some of Trump's criticism of mainstream media outlets for what he deems as unfavorable coverage of him and his presidency—could encourage some of his extreme right-wing supporters to commit violence against journalists from outlets outside of the conservative media spectrum. Later that month, a group of Democratic United States Senators, led by Amy Klobuchar, issued a request for information over allegations that the Trump administration was planning to use CNN as "leverage for political gain" in the process of clearing the proposed acquisition of its parent company Time Warner by AT&T—a purchase which was first announced in October 2016. *The Daily Caller* reported that, in particular, the administration was seeking the removal of Jeff Zucker as CNN president. Although Trump had promised to block the acquisition entirely during his presidential campaign, Trump's transition team later stated that the government planned to evaluate the deal without prejudice.

Following the announcement of the acquisition, AT&T CEO Randall L. Stephenson stated that the company was "committed to continuing the editorial independence of CNN". In August 2017, *Deadline Hollywood* reported that AT&T had considered spinning off CNN and its stake in TMZ post-acquisition. In October 2017, Stephenson downplayed the possibility that the ongoing tensions between Trump and CNN could affect the deal, stating that he "[didn't] know what the relevance of CNN is in terms of an antitrust review", and that AT&T did not plan to make managerial changes to Time Warner properties that were operating well, such as CNN. Later that month, CNN launched a new promotional campaign, "Facts First", in an effort to combat negative perceptions over the quality of its reporting. Using an apple to demonstrate metaphors for fake news and "alternative facts" (in particular, suggesting that one could persistently opine that the apple was actually a banana), the ads publicize a commitment to prioritizing accurate, fact-based reporting before presenting opinions on a particular story. The ad became the subject of parodies, including one by *The Daily Caller* (which reversed the ad, and amended the slogan with "unless we are reporting on Trump"), and Stephen Colbert (which closed with the line "Now orange you ready to impeach?"), and was criticized by conservative publishers, Republican politicians, and on social media.

On November 6, 2017, Stephenson met with Makan Delrahim, assistant Attorney General of the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division, to discuss antitrust and concentration of media ownership concerns surrounding the acquisition, and possible options for satisfying them. Two days later, major media outlets publicly reported that the Justice Department had recommended that either the entire Turner Broadcasting System unit, or DirecTV, be divested as a condition of the merger. The *Financial Times* went further, stating that it had specifically demanded the divestment of CNN. Stephenson denied these reports, stating that he never offered to, nor had any intentions to sell CNN. CNN's media analyst Brian Stelter noted that media outlets were interpreting the alleged recommendations as being either a genuine concern for AT&T's scale following the merger, or a retaliatory measure by the Trump administration against CNN.

At the *DealBook* conference in New York City the next day, Stephenson denied that the Department had demanded the divestment of CNN at all (stating that he had "never been told that the price of getting the deal done was selling CNN"), and that the company aimed to "get to a negotiated settlement". However, he stated that if they were unable to do so, AT&T was "prepared to litigate". In a statement to CNBC, a Department of Justice official backed Stephenson, denying that there were any specific demands to divest CNN during the discussion, and considering the claims to be "shocking" and an attempt to politicize the situation. The official added that the Department had officially recommended either abandoning the deal entirely, or divesting DirecTV or Turner, but that it was open to other options for quelling antitrust concerns. The same day, the watchdog group Protect Democracy sued the Department of Justice to seek information on whether the Trump administration had "improperly interfered with the Department's review of the merger between AT&T and Time Warner, or has acted in that matter based on the President's personal dislike of CNN's protected speech." The group had issued a Freedom of Information Act request for these details, but the Department had not responded. On November 20, 2017, the Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit over the acquisition.

The proposed merger was affirmed on June 12, 2018, after District of Columbia U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon ruled in favor of AT&T in the lawsuit. The merger closed two days later, with the company becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T under the renamed parent company WarnerMedia.

## Programming

*See also: List of programs broadcast by CNN*
CNN's current weekday schedule consists mostly of rolling news programming during daytime hours, followed by in-depth news and information programs during the evening and primetime hours. The network's morning programming consists of *Early Start*, an early-morning news program hosted by Christine Romans and Dave Briggs at 4–6 a.m. ET, which is followed by *New Day*, the network's morning show, hosted by Alisyn Camerota and John Berman at 6–9 a.m. ET. Most of CNN's late-morning and early afternoon programming consists of *CNN Newsroom*, a rolling news program hosted by Jim Sciutto and Poppy Harlow in the morning and Brooke Baldwin in the afternoon. In between the editions of *Newsroom*, *At This Hour* with Kate Bolduan airs at 11 a.m. to noon Eastern, followed by *Inside Politics with John King*, hosted by John King at noon Eastern, and *CNN Right Now* with Brianna Keilar at 1 p.m. Eastern.

CNN's late afternoon and early evening lineup consists of *The Lead with Jake Tapper*, hosted by Jake Tapper at 4 p.m. Eastern and *The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer*, hosted by Wolf Blitzer at 5–7 p.m. ET. The network's evening and primetime lineup shifts towards more in-depth programming, including *Erin Burnett OutFront* at 7 p.m. ET, and *Anderson Cooper 360°* at 8 p.m. ET, followed by *Cuomo Prime Time* with Chris Cuomo at 9 p.m., and *CNN Tonight* hosted by Don Lemon at 10 p.m. Eastern. Overnight programming consists of reruns of the primetime lineup, and an overnight simulcast of the CNN International version of *CNN Newsroom* from Atlanta, GA.

Weekend primetime is dedicated mostly to factual programming, such as documentary-style reality series (including *Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown* and *United Shades of America*), along with original based documentaries and specials (including those presented under blanket titles such as *CNN Presents* and *CNN Special Investigations Unit*), as well as acquired documentary films presented under the banner *CNN Films*. The network's weekend morning programming consists of *CNN Newsroom* (simulcast from CNN International) at 4–6 a.m. ET, which is followed by the weekend editions of *New Day*, hosted by Christi Paul and Victor Blackwell, which airs every Saturday at 6–9 a.m. ET and Sunday at 6–8 a.m. ET and the network's Saturday program *Smerconish* with Michael Smerconish at 9 a.m. Eastern and replay at 6 p.m. Eastern. Sunday morning lineup consists primarily of political talk shows, including *Inside Politics with John King*, hosted by John King at 8 a.m. Eastern and *State of the Union*, hosted by Jake Tapper at 9 a.m. Eastern and replay at noon Eastern, and the international affairs program *Fareed Zakaria GPS*, hosted by Fareed Zakaria at 10 a.m. Eastern and replay at 1 p.m. Eastern, and the media analysis program *Reliable Sources*, hosted by Brian Stelter at 11 a.m. Eastern.

For the 2014–15 season, after cancelling *Piers Morgan Tonight* (which, itself, replaced the long-running *Larry King Live*), CNN experimented with running factual and reality-style programming during the 9:00 p.m. ET hour, such as John Walsh's *The Hunt*, *This Is Life with Lisa Ling*, and Mike Rowe's *Somebody's Gotta Do It*. Jeff Zucker explained that this new lineup was intended to shift CNN away from a reliance on pundit-oriented programs, and attract younger demographics to the network. Zucker stated that the 9:00 p.m. hour could be pre-empted during major news events for expanded coverage. These changes coincided with the introduction of a new imaging campaign for the network, featuring the slogan "Go there". In May 2014, CNN premiered *The Sixties*, a documentary miniseries produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman which chronicled the United States in the 1960s. Owing to its success, CNN commissioned follow-ups focusing on other decades. *Anderson Cooper 360°* has since been expanded back into a two-hour format to occupy the 8-9 p.m. timeslot.

## External links

* Official website

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