Cable News Network, derided as the Chicken Noodle Network by naysayers who laughed at the idea of 24-hour TV news, is 20 years old today. It has earned a place as one of the defining media phenomena of the 20th century.
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then founder Ted Turner's pioneering cable TV network should be blushing at the effect it has had on the habits of TV viewers as well as the journalists who bring news to the small screen.
Yet, as Internet technology redefines how people get their news, and more localised competitors challenge CNN for its estimated one billion viewers, the future is less clear.
Despite creating a TV revolution, bringing US culture, personalities such as Larry King and American-style reporting to homes in every part of the world, some observers fear it is in danger of being overtaken by lookalikes in a media free-for-all.
"I think CNN is very vulnerable now from the Internet and competitors like Fox News [US sister station of the Murdoch-owned UK-based Sky network]," said Dr David Klatell, academic dean of Columbia University's school of journalism [in New York]. "There are around 30 cities in the United States now where they have 24-hour TV news service, offering more local news and that is cutting into CNN's audience."
He said CNN's impact in exporting American culture could not be ignored. "You can go almost anywhere and eat at McDonalds and turn on CNN. . . but it tends to show the world through American eyes."
The CNN News Group broadcasts through six cable and satellite networks. CNN/US is distributed to more than 75 million households. Then there is CNN Headline News, CNN International, CNN/fn business news, CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN en Espanol. It also operates two radio networks, 12 Web sites and a syndicated news service.
Of the early days, anchorman Bernard Shaw said: "There were a lot of caustic and snide remarks, although others respected our vow, Ted Turner's vow, to stay on the air forever. The grudging respect became less grudging about a decade ago."
By the time Shaw and reporter Peter Arnett were reporting from Baghdad on Allied air raids in 1991, CNN had become the channel most Americans turned to for breaking news.
