The original cable news network, CNN, begins its 39th year today.
CNN went on the air at 6 p.m. on June 1, 1980. “I know that we will succeed. And we will not let the American people down,” said Ted Turner in 1979, when he announced the idea for CNN.
Turner, who has not been involved in CNN, or its parent company, Turner Broadcasting, since 2006, famously said at the time the network launched: “baring satellite problems in the future we won’t be singing off until the world ends. We will cover it live. That will be our last event.”
Advertisement
In 2012, for Oprah Winfrey’s Master Class, Turner explained why he started CNN: