work invested in portable satellites and widening its
cable network. The CNN news organization was a
mix of veteran journalists, seasoned news managers,
and low-wage college graduates who were infected
by Turner’s enthusiasm and his determination to
make CNN work.
Chicken Noodle News Versus SNC Broadcast
news executives belittled CNN’s launch, dubbing it
“chicken noodle news” for its unsophisticated pro-
duction values and tight budgets. CNN recorded
$7 million in revenue and $16 million in losses in its
first year. In 1981, CNN2 was launched with thirty-
minute condensed news segments. Within eighteen
months of CNN2’s start, Ted Turner, near bank-
ruptcy, fought off the launch of ABC-Westinghouse’s
competitive cable news channel, the Satellite News
Channel (SNC). Turner bought SNC, acquiring its
cable slots and adding more than one million view-
ers to his own network.
Growth and Respect CNN added specialty news
segments on business, medicine, entertainment,
and politics. In 1981, CNN anchor Bernard Shaw
was the first to break the news about the attempted
assassination of President Ronald Reagan. In 1982,
the fledgling news network fought for and won a
place alongside the major network organizations
in the White House press pool. In 1986, CNN was
the only network providing live coverage of the
launch of the space shuttleChallengerwhen it ex-
ploded shortly after liftoff.
CNN continued to add programming and even
other channels. The network acquiredCrossfire,apo-
litical debate show in Washington, D.C. In 1985, it
added popular radio talk-show host Larry King to its
lineup with a nightly interview show that became a
ratings success. Turner pushed the boundaries of in-
ternational news coverage. In 1981, he visited Cuba
and initiated the first live broadcast from that nation
since 1958.The International News Hourcovered events
in one hundred different nations. In 1985, CNN
International was launched as a twenty-four-hour
global news service, first in Europe and by 1989 in
Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. When the broad-
cast networks dropped foreign news bureaus to cut
costs, CNN swooped in to pick them up. In 1986,
CNN cameras covered the aerial bombing of Libya.
In 1984, CNN was operating at a loss of $20 mil-
lion a year. In 1985, the losses ended, as the company
posted $123 million in revenues and $13 million in
profits. The financial turnaround of the company
was accompanied by growing respect for its journal-
istic accomplishments. In 1984, 1987, and 1988,
CNN received the George Foster Peabody Broad-
casting Award for program quality and excellence.
In 1987, CNN moved from its original home, an
abandoned country club, to new facilities with
cutting-edge technology, the CNN News Center. The
move signified the presence of CNN as a successful
innovator in news production and distribution.
Impact CNN recognized a need in news consum-
ers. Sometimes derided as “crisis news network” be-
cause audiences swelled during crisis coverage, CNN
united millions of viewers in a shared experience.
CNN’s coverage raised awareness of national issues,The Eighties in America CNN 221
CNN chair Ted Turner emphasizes that television news need not
be bad news at a luncheon of the Advertising Club of Cincinnati
in January, 1981.(AP/Wide World Photos)