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CNN Celebrates 45th Anniversary On June 1st
It's hard to believe how much the world of TV news has changed since CNN signed on for the very first time on U.S. cable at 5 PM, June 1, 1980. The channel was derided as "Chicken Noodle News" by some, who predicted no one would want to see headlines 24 hours a day.
It had a rough beginning, with the all-but-forgotten husband and wife team of Lois Hart & David Walker doing the first newscast. But it became Must See TV a few years later with its infamous green tinted coverage inside Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War.
Since then, MSNBC and Fox have become competitors, with both CBC and CTV in Canada starting their own round-the-clock all news stations.
There were all news radio stations at the time. But before this day in 1980, no one thought it could possibly work on TV. The headline is that they were wrong.
The day CNN was created
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Re: CNN Celebrates 45th Anniversary On June 1st
Incredible how primitive this set-up seems, as the crew took viewers on a tour of the place on that very first day.
"This audio board is one of a kind. We could use it for a rock concert."
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Thread Starter- Glen Warren
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Re: CNN Celebrates 45th Anniversary On June 1st
In the late 70s to early 80s Molly McCoy was the Managing Editor and Co-anchor with Rich Kellman on WGR 2 Buffalo (w/ Ed Kilgore on Sports and Barry Lillis weather).
Molly McCoy later left Buffalo and was one of the prominent anchor/readers on CNN. CNN2 (Headline) launch later in either 1982 or 1984.
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Re: CNN Celebrates 45th Anniversary On June 1st
CNN was among several of the first American imported channels that the CRTC officially authorized for distribution by Canadian cable services. To this day, the CRTC continues to maintain an extensive list of "Non-Canadian programming services authorized for distribution" by Canadian "broadcast distribution undertakings", or in other words, traditionally-regulated TV service providers, whether cable, satellite, or internet protocol TV. I honestly don't understand how such quaint regulations have survived into the age of streaming and proliferation of other un-regulatable services, but that's a little off-topic.
Last edited by tdotwriter (June 1, 2025 8:01 pm)