launched june 1 1980 ; 36 years ago 1980 06 01 owned by turner broadcasting system time warner picture format 1080i hdtv 480i letterboxed for sdtv feed slogan go there this is cnn country united states language english broadcast area united states canada worldwide via cnn international online via cnngo radio news reports on the half hour headquarters cnn center atlanta georgia sister channel s cnn international cnn philippines cnn indonesia cnn news18 cnn airport network cnn t rk cnn en espa ol cnngo hln cnn chile tnt turner classic movies cartoon network boomerang trutv tbs website cnn.com availability satellite directv u.s. 202 1202 vod dish network 200 9436 bell tv canada 1578 500 sd shaw direct canada 140 500 sd 257 331 hd cablevision mexico 712 cable verizon fios u.s. 600 100 sd available on most other u.s. cable systems consult your local cable provider for channel availability satellite radio sirius u.s. 115 xm u.s. 115 sirius xm u.s. 115 iptv at & t u verse u.s. 1202 202 sd bell fibe tv canada 500 1500 sd google fiber u.s. 101 vmedia canada 33 hd streaming media cnn.com live watch live u.s. cable subscribers only ; requires login from participating television providers to access stream apple tv cnngo application sling tv internet protocol television playstation vue internet protocol television tunein cnn the cable news network cnn is an american basic cable and satellite television channel that is owned by the turner broadcasting system division of time warner . 1 it was founded in 1980 by american media proprietor ted turner as a 24 hour cable news channel ; 2 3 however by april 2016 a cnn executive officially described the channel as no longer a tv news network and instead as a 24 hour global multiplatform network . 4 upon its launch cnn was the first television channel to provide 24 hour news coverage 5 and was the first all news television channel in the united states . 6 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 7 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 . 8 broadcast coverage of the u.s. channel extends to over 890 000 american hotel rooms 8 as well as carriage on cable and satellite providers throughout canada . globally cnn programming airs through cnn international which can be seen by viewers in over 212 countries and territories . 9 as of february 2015 cnn is available to approximately 96 289 000 cable satellite and telco television households 82.7 % of households with at least one television set in the united states . 10 contents 1 history 1.1 early history 1.2 major events 1.2.1 challenger disaster 1.2.2 baby jessica rescue 1.2.3 gulf war 1.2.4 september 11 attacks 1.2.5 2008 u.s. election 1.2.6 2012 u.s. election 2 programming 2.1 on air presentation 2.2 former programs 3 staff 4 other platforms 4.1 online 4.2 films 4.3 radio 5 specialized channels 5.1 former channels 5.2 experiments 6 bureaus 6.1 united states 6.2 worldwide 7 controversies 8 awards and honors 9 see also 10 references 11 external links 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 . 11 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 . 12 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 36 bureaus 10 domestic 26 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 . major events replica of the newsroom at cnn center . challenger disaster on january 28 1986 cnn carried the only live television coverage of the launch and subsequent break up of space shuttle challenger which killed all seven crew members on board . baby jessica rescue on october 14 1987 jessica mcclure an 18 month old toddler fell down a well in midland texas . cnn quickly reported on the story and the event helped make its name . the new york times ran a retrospective article in 1995 on the impact of live video news if a picture is worth a thousand words then a moving picture is worth many times that and a live moving picture makes an emotional connection that goes deeper than logic and lasts well beyond the actual event . this was before correspondents reported live from the enemy capital while american bombs were falling . before saddam hussein held a surreal press conference with a few of the hundreds of americans he was holding hostage . before the nation watched riveted but powerless as los angeles was looted and burned . before o. j. simpson took a slow ride in a white bronco and before everyone close to his case had an agent and a book contract . this was uncharted territory just a short time ago . 13 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 . operation desert storm as captured live on a cnn night vision camera with reporters narrating . the moment when bombing began was announced on cnn by bernard shaw on january 16 1991 as follows 14 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 . because it was 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 a feat that led to the subsequent creation of cnn international . the gulf war experience brought cnn some much sought after legitimacy and made household names of previously obscure reporters . many of these reporters now comprise cnn s old guard . bernard shaw 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 in the role of the 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 . 15 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 . 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 . 16 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 . 17 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 . 18 brown had just joined cnn from abc to serve as the breaking news anchor . paula zahn assisted in the september 11 2001 coverage on her first day as a cnn reporter a fact that she mentioned as a guest clue presenter on a 2005 episode of jeopardy . cnn has made archival files of much of the day s broadcast available in five segments plus an overview . 2008 u.s. election the stage for the second 2008 cnn youtube presidential debate . 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 . 19 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 . 20 in 2008 cnn partnered with the los angeles times to host two primary debates leading up to its coverage of super tuesday . 21 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 . 21 2012 u.s. election cnn again devoted large amounts of coverage to the 2012 u.s.