Draft:CNN

Credits

Descriptions by
VortexArto

Captures by
VortexArto

Editions by
VortexArto

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)

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Visuals: Over a live shot, we see a black rectangle with red outlines 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.

Audio Variants:

Availability:

2nd ID (1984)

Visuals: On a grey-blue gradient background with a grid floor below, we see the big silver CNN logo 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, we see a three-dimensional CNN logo 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)

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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: We see a CGI disc with the world map depicted on it 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, we see the CNN logo in silver.

Technique: None.

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

7th ID (1987-1988)

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Visuals: Over a live action background, we see a gold CNN logo zooming in towards us. The logo shines.

Technique: Computer animation.

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

7th ID (1988-1991)

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8th ID (1990-1992)

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Audio: The voice of James Earl Jones exclaiming "This is CNN". Sometimes it's a different announcer.

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

10th ID (1994-1995)

Visuals: On a black background, various purple streaks form a golden CNN logo. The result is the same as the previous ID, but the logo looks slightly different.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A triumphant fanfare with a different announcer saying "This is CNN".

11th ID (1995-2001)

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Visuals: On a gradient yellowish brown background, through a glass-like lens shape, we see a blue Earth disc 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:

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12th ID (2000)

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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:

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14th ID (2001-2003)

Visuals: We see a very extreme close-up of the CNN logo in red spinning about, 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:

15th ID (2008?-20??)

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16th ID (20??-2014)

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17th ID (2014-)

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