CNN/Sports Illustrated (CNN/SI) was a 24-hour sports news

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematic ...

. It was created by

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

, merging together its CNN and ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...

'' brands and related resources. It was launched on December 12, 1996. Other news networks like ESPNews, provided 30-minute blocks of news and highlights in a similar fashion to

CNN Headline News HLN is an American basic cable network. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, the network primarily carries true crime programming. The channel was originally launched on January 1, 1982 by Turner Broadcasting as CNN2 (later renamed Headline News ...

at the time, but CNN/SI was live daily from 7am to 2am. 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.

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 ESPNews (pronounced "ESPN News", stylized ESPNEWS) is an American multinational digital cable and satellite television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company (which owns ...

and

Fox Sports Net Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on Mar ...

's '' National Sports Report''. Though CNN/SI aired exclusive content, such as the tape of

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

player Neil Reed appearing to be choked by former coach

Bob Knight Robert Montgomery Knight (born October 25, 1940) is an American former basketball coach. Nicknamed "the General", Knight won 902 NCAA Division I men's college basketball games, a record at the time of his retirement, and currently fourth all-ti ...

, the channel reached only 20 million homes, not adequate enough to receive a rating by

Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...

, which reduced sponsorship. ESPNews, in contrast, benefited from being bundled with

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

(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 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

contributed to the closure of CNN/SI, as it lost all connections to their mother network. Near its closure, ''Sports Tonight'' was exclusive to CNN/SI. CNN/SI added

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

qualifying, Wimbledon matches,

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United Stat ...

matches, and televised the now-defunct

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the Un ...

CNN/SI shut down on May 15, 2002. On many cable systems, CNN/SI was replaced by

NBA TV NBA TV is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit. Dedicated to basketball, the network features exhibition, regula ...

. NBA TV, which launched in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, 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 CNN International (CNNI, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel that is owned by CNN Global. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates with sister network CNN's national and inter ...

Website

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 Bleacher Report (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sport and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. Bleacher Report was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in ...

and after Time Warner's spin-off of their publishing assets into Time Inc. (and subsequently sale to

Meredith Corporation Meredith Corporation was an American media conglomerate based in Des Moines, Iowa, that owned magazines, television stations, websites, and radio stations. Its publications had a readership of more than 120 million and paid circulation of more ...

and later, to IAC's

Dotdash Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...

), they dropped all use of the ''Sports Illustrated'' name.

Programming

*'' Sports Tonight'' (1996–2001) hosted by various anchors *''NFL Preview'' hosted by

Bob Lorenz Robert "Bob" Lorenz (born October 2, 1963) is an American television anchor. He is the primary studio host on the YES Network, and hosts the New York Yankees pregame and postgame shows on YES telecasts, as well as Brooklyn Nets pregame and postgam ...

with analysts

Trev Alberts Trev Kendall AlbertsJim Offner '' Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier'', February 6, 2013, accessed July 8, 2013. (born August 8, 1970) is an American sports administrator and former football linebacker who is the director of athletics at University of ...

, Irving Fryar and Peter King *''College Football Preview'' hosted by Bob Lorenz with analyst Trev Alberts and

Ivan Maisel Ivan Maisel is a national college football writer. Career An alumnus of Murphy High in Mobile and Stanford University, Maisel began his career at The Atlanta Constitution in 1981, where he covered Clemson's unlikely run to the national champ ...

*''This Week in the NBA'' hosted by

Andre Aldridge Andre Aldridge is an American television personality. He is currently an anchor for NBA TV. Aldridge previously worked at ESPN, where he served as an anchor/reporter. During his three years at ESPN, Aldridge reported and anchored for various show ...

and Kevin Loughery *''Sports Illustrated Golf Plus'' hosted by Bob Fiscella and Phil Jones *''World Sport'' hosted by various anchors *''Page One'' hosted by Laura Okmin *''NASCAR Plus'' hosted by Johnny Phelps *''Sports Illustrated - Cover to Cover'' *''Trev Alberts' Full Tilt'' *''The Sporting Life with

Jim Huber Jim Huber (August 28, 1944 – January 2, 2012) was an American sports commentator, writer, and essayist. He worked as a sports anchor for the former CNN Sports Illustrated, before joining Turner Sports in 2000. Huber was raised in Ocala, Florida ...

References

External links

Sports Illustrated Homepage

CNNSi.com Domain Name Sells for $5,500
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cnn Sports Illustrated CNN Sports television networks in the United States English-language television stations in the United States Television channels and stations established in 1996 Defunct television networks in the United States Turner Sports Television channels and stations disestablished in 2002