CNN/SI

CNN/Sports Illustrated (CNN/SI) was a 24-hour sports news network. It was created by Time Warner, bringing together its CNN and Sports Illustrated brands and related resources. It was launched on December 12, 1996.



Unlike ESPNews, which provided 30-minute blocks of news and highlights in a similar fashion to CNN Headline News at the time, CNN/SI was fully live daily from 7am to 2am. Their aim 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 has been attributed to competition with other all-sports news networks which started around the same time, such as ESPNews and Fox Sports Net's National Sports Report. Though CNN/SI aired exclusive content, such as the tape of Indiana University player Neil Reed appearing to be choked by former coach Bob Knight, the channel reached about only 20 million homes, not enough to receive a rating by Nielsen Media Research, which resulted in reduced sponsorship. ESPNews benefited from the leverage ESPN (86.5 million homes) has with cable operators. In contrast, news channel parent CNN didn't have the same clout 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) in the wake of the September 11 attacks was likely the proximate cause for the closure of CNN/SI, which lost all connections to their mother network.

In its final days, Sports Tonight was exclusive to CNN/SI. CNN/SI added NASCAR qualifying, Wimbledon matches, National Lacrosse League matches, and televised the now-defunct Women's United Soccer Association

CNN/SI closed its doors on May 15, 2002. On many cable systems, CNN/SI was replaced by NBA TV. NBA TV, which launched in 1999, 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.

Website
The CNN/SI name was maintained for Sports Illustrated's online presence, which was located at cnnsi.com. It has since moved to just si.com. In January 2013, CNN acquired Bleacher Report and after Time Warner's spin-off of their publishing assets into Time Inc. (and subsequently sale to Meredith Corporation), ceased all partnerships with Sports Illustrated.

Programming

 * Sports Tonight (1996–2001) hosted by various anchors
 * NFL Preview hosted by Bob Lorenz with analysts Trev Alberts, Irving Fryar and Peter King
 * College Football Preview hosted by Bob Lorenz with analyst Trev Alberts and Ivan Maisel
 * This Week in the NBA hosted by Andre Aldridge 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