CNN

Cable News Network, commonly known as CNN, is a major cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner.^[1][2] It is a division of the Turner Broadcasting System, owned by Time Warner. CNN introduced the idea of 24-hour television news coverage, and celebrated its 25th anniversary on June 1, 2005.

In terms of cumulative (Cume) Nielsen ratings or "unique viewers", CNN rates as America's #1 cable news network.^[3] CNN broadcasts primarily from its headquarters at the CNN Center in Atlanta, Time Warner Center in New York City, and studios in Washington, DC. As of December 2004, it is available in 88.2 million U.S. households and more than 890,000 American hotel rooms. The U.S version of CNN is also shown in Canada. Globally, the network airs through CNN International and has combined branded networks and services that are available to more than 1.5 billion people in over 212 countries and territories.

The Cable News Network was launched at 6:00 p.m. EST on June 1, 1980. After an introduction by Ted Turner, the husband and wife team of David Walker and Lois Hart anchored the first newscast.^[4] Since its debut, CNN has expanded its reach to a number of cable and satellite television networks, several web sites, specialized closed-circuit networks (such as CNN Airport Network), and two radio networks. The network has 42 bureaus, more than 900 affiliated local stations, and several regional and foreign-language networks around the world. The network'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.

Despite its domestic standing, CNN remains a distant second in international news coverage, reaching just over half of the audience of the older BBC News. Unlike BBC's network of reporters and bureaus, CNN International makes extensive use of affiliated reporters that are local to, and often directly affected by, the events they are reporting. The effect is a more immediate, less detached style of on-the-ground coverage. This has done little to stem criticism, largely from Middle Eastern nations, that CNN International reports news from a pro-American perspective. This is a marked contrast to domestic criticisms that often portray CNN as having a "liberal" or "anti-American" bias.

A companion network, Headline News (originally called CNN2) was launched in 1982 and featured a continuous 24-hour cycle of 30-minute news broadcasts. Headline News broke from its original format in 2006 with the addition of Headline Prime. Current programs feature confrontational personalities like radio talk-show host Glenn Beck and former Fulton County, Georgia prosecutor Nancy Grace