CNN Digital Celebrates 20 Years and Jeff Zucker’s Hair

By Brian Flood 

Sunday is the 20th anniversary of CNN Digital and CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker sent a memo to staffers regarding the milestone. Zucker pokes fun at himself in the note, saying he had “a lot more hair” when CNN Digital kicked off back in 1995. Jokes aside, CNN Digital has come along way over the last 20 years and Zucker says the team has “much to celebrate.”

TVNewser has obtained the memo that Zucker sent to CNN staff. Check it out:

August 27, 2015

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The day was August 30, 1995. A talking pig named Babe was pulling big numbers at the box office. TLC was topping the charts with “Waterfalls.” I had a lot more hair. And CNN Digital was born in the form of CNN.com on the World Wide Web.

It’s hard to imagine life before our “cyberspace newsstand,” as it was described in the days following its launch. Today it touches more consumers than any other platform. And every person in every department at CNN, all around the globe, has adopted a digital-first approach to the way we break news and tell stories.

We’ve come a long way since that summer’s day in 1995. CNN Digital has grown into a robust portfolio of products, sites and platforms — apps for nearly every mobile device, our game-changing CNNgo, War Rooms, the industry’s most followed social media handles, and more. Digital is truly the pulse of our business. At the close of its first twenty years, CNN Digital has much to celebrate. More people turn to CNN.com for video than any other news website. CNNPolitics.com is the nation’s most trafficked political news site in every measure and CNNMoney rivals the world’s leading business publications as a top-five destination for financial news.

In short, it’s been an incredible ride but it’s only just begun. Every day we’re popping up in new ways and in new places to reach our audiences wherever they may be.

Keep innovating. The future is ours.

Jeff

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