Draft:CNN

Background

The Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news-based pay television channel headquartered in Atlanta, United States. It is part of Warner Bros. Discovery (the company formed by the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc.). It was founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel. Upon its launch in 1980, CNN was the first television channel to provide 24-hour news coverage, and was the first all-news television channel in the United States.

1st ID (1980-1984)

Visuals: Over a live shot, a black rectangle with red outlines is seen fading in, followed by "CNN" in its famous lined, stylized font and in ivory sliding in from the left to the center within the rectangle. The CNN logo then flips into "THE NEWS CHANNEL" in a serif font.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: Multiple news reports spliced together.

2nd ID (1984)

Visuals: On a grey-blue gradient background with a grid floor below, the big silver CNN logo is seen sliding down from above. Below, "CABLE NEWS NETWORK" in white wipes in.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: None.

3rd ID (1984-1985)

Visuals: On a metallic background, a three-dimensional CNN logo is seen in chrome. Below is the text "CABLE NEWS NETWORK".

Technique: None.

Audio: An announcer says "From Turner Broadcasting System, this is Cable News Network."

4th ID (1985-1987)

Visuals: Over a live-action scene, the CNN logo in silver appears zooming out and flipping into view. The logo then zooms in slowly and halts to a stop.

Variants: There are five known scenes shown in this ID:

A close-up of a bald eagle flying in the sky.
A shot of a mountain with clouds moving.
A shot of a sailboat at sunset.
A shot of a beach at sunset.
A night-time aerial view of the Manhattan skyline at New York City.

Technique: Live-action and computer animation.

Audio: The tail-end of CNN's "Experience Life" campaign song, with the chorus going "Experience life on CNN!". The full version can be heard on CNN promos of the time.

Audio Variants:

An instrumental version of the campaign song was sometimes used.
A slower instrumental version was also used, with an announcer saying "This is CNN, the world's most important network."

5th ID (1986)

Visuals: A CGI disc with the world map depicted on it is seen revolving as the upper part of the CNN logo in blue appears swiveling in, casting a shadow on the map. The shadow then morphs into the bottom part of the CNN logo, which zooms in below the upper part, completing the logotype. A sun appears rising behind the map disc as the CNN logotype shines, followed by the byline "A Service of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc." fades in below.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A synth horn fanfare.

6th ID (1986-1988)

Visuals: On a gradient blue background with a grid floor on the bottom, the CNN logo in silver is seen.

Technique: None.

Audio: An announcer saying "This is CNN, a service of Turner Broadcasting System."

7th ID (1987-1988)

Visuals: Over a live action background, a gold CNN logo is seen zooming in towards the camera. The logo shines.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: The tail-end of the "Experience Life" campaign song.

7th ID (1988-1991)

Visuals:: Over a purple backdrop, the camera flies through the edges within a white CNN logo, with red ribbons flying through it and a red rectangular slab moving behind the logo. After the slab flies away, the edges within the CNN logo gets filled in with red. As the camera pans away from the CNN logo to a comfortable position, a red line with "Stay Informed" written in a script font fades in below.

Variant: A still version exists with the CNN logo smaller.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A triumphant fanfare, ending in a 3-note hit.

Audio Variants: The still version may have an announcer saying "This is CNN, a service of Turner Broadcasting Network".

8th ID (1990-1992)

Visuals:: A gold CNN logo wipes in over a black background. One part of the logo wipes in from the left while the other wipes in from the right.

Variant: In 1990, CNN celebrated its 10th anniversary. In this variant, multiple colorful geometric shapes and bars form an "X"-like frame behind the gold CNN logo (which wipes in). Two gold bars slide in above and below the logo. "1980" fades in on the top bar while "1990" fades in on the bottom bar.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: A triumphant fanfare with a three-note bombastic hit (different from the previous fanfare). The voice of James Earl Jones is heard exclaiming "This is CNN".

Legacy: This is one of the first idents to include the "This is CNN" voice-over as well as the familiar fanfare, which would be used on all of these idents onward.

10th ID (1994-1995)

Visuals: On a rocky background, various purple streaks form a golden CNN logo. Colorful geometric shapes appear and move behind the logo.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: Same as before.

11th ID (1995-2001)

Visuals: On a gradient yellowish brown background, through a glass-like lens shape, a blue Earth disc is seen flipping upwards, revealing the CNN logo in a glossy red color. The CNN logo slowly turns away.

Bylines:

1995-1997: a Turner company
1997-2001: A Time Warner Company

Technique: CGI

Audio: Same as before.

12th ID (2000)

Visuals:

Technique:

Audio:

Availability:

13th ID (2001)

Visuals: On a white background with three glowing Earth globes rotating on top of a glass floor, a translucent glassy CNN logo appears into view, which flashes and transforms into the familiar red logo. Below, the text "CNN.com" with "AOL Keyword:CNN" fades in, stacked, alongside the byline "An AOL Time Warner Company".

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A rearranged version of the previous fanfare with the same voiceover.

14th ID (2001-2003)

Visuals: The ID begins with a very extreme close-up of the CNN logo in red spinning, seemingly made of glass. The logo shines. It cuts to a white screen with "DEPEND ON" zooming out word-by-word. The screen goes back to the close-up of the CNN logo, which zooms out to a more comfortable position over a backdrop of glass objects. Below, the text "CNN.com AOL Keyword: CNN" appears, with the byline "An AOL Time Warner Company" underneath it.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: