CNN Launches as a 24-Hour News Channel

Setting the scene

Ted Turner, owner of Atlanta superstation WTBS, bet that satellite distribution could sustain news around the clock when broadcast networks signed off at midnight; skeptics called 24-hour news a money-losing stunt.

What happened

CNN began broadcasting on June 1, 1980, from Atlanta's Techwood Drive studios with anchor David Walker and co-anchor Lois Hart, promising live global coverage without appointment viewing.

Why it still matters

Cable news later transformed election coverage through Gulf War sand-table briefings and 2000 Florida recount chyrons; CNN's international bureaus and rivals MSNBC and Fox News fragmented how democracies consume breaking events.

Background

Cable news later transformed election coverage.