The Launch of CNN

The network launched on Sunday, June 1, 1980 at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time with an original staff of 300 employees based at its headquarters in Atlanta, and bureaus in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. The station first pictured a shot of the CNN logo on a red background with a 750 hertz tone followed by silence. Afterwards, the inaugural broadcast on the channel was an introduction by Ted Turner.

Following the introduction and a pre-recorded version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" (which was a tradition whenever a new Turner-owned network launched) that was played afterward, the husband and wife team of Dave Walker and Lois Hart anchored the channel's first newscast.

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