CNN/Sports Illustrated (CNN/SI) was a 24-hour sports news network. It was created by Time Warner, merging together its CNN and Sports Illustrated brands and related resources. It was launched on December 12, 1996.[1]
CNN/SI's first logo
Other news networks like ESPNews, provided 30-minute blocks of news and highlights in a similar fashion to CNN Headline News at the time, but CNN/SI was live daily from 7am to 2am.[2] Their purpose was to provide the most comprehensive sports news service on television, bringing in-depth sports news from around the world, and integrating the Internet and television.[3]
Closure
CNN/SI's closure had been attributed to competition with other all-sports news networks which started around the same time, such as ESPNews and Fox Sports Net's National Sports Report. Though CNN/SI aired exclusive content, such as the tape of former Indiana University coach Bob Knight choking player Neil Reed, the channel reached only 20 million homes, not adequate enough to receive a rating by Nielsen Media Research, which reduced sponsorship. ESPNews, in contrast, benefited from being bundled with ESPN (86.5 million homes). The news channel parent CNN did not have the same influence with cable operators for its all-sports news channel. CNN's cancellation of their flagship sports program, Sports Tonight (which had already been retooled to compete with SportsCenter) after the September 11 attacks contributed to the closure of CNN/SI, as it lost all connections to their mother network.[4]
CNN/SI shut down on May 15, 2002.[9][10] On many cable systems, CNN/SI was replaced by NBA TV. NBA TV, which launched in 1999, eventually evolved into a joint venture between Time Warner and the NBA that officially launched on October 28, 2008.
While the network closed, its international sports program World Sport continues airing and since 2002 has been produced by CNN International.[11]
Website
CNN Sports Illustrated site logo (2002)
The CNN/SI name was maintained for Sports Illustrated's online presence, which was located at cnnsi.com. In January 2013, CNN acquired Bleacher Report and after Time Warner's spin-off of their publishing assets into Time Inc. (and subsequently sale to Meredith Corporation and later, to IAC's Dotdash), they dropped all use of the Sports Illustrated name.[12]
^"New York Magazine". New York Media, LLC. 23 December 1996. CNN/SI will not rely on a "wheel" of repeating news segments and highlights. Rather, it promises a nineteen-hour "stream" of news reported fresh throughout the day, starting from 7 AM.
