Friday / Weekend Open Line


What is now routine for millions of Americans each day — checking an all-news cable television channel for the latest events around the world — began on this day in 1980. That’s when CNN — the Cable News Network — started its service. At the time, some critics questioned whether the public would be interested in a channel that carried nothing but news 24 hours a day. Now, there are not only a number of such news channels, but others dedicated fully to weather, golf, automobiles and cooking, among other special interests. When CNN began operations, about 16 million households were hooked up to cable. Today, cable television reaches nearly 66 million homes across the U.S. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.


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