Satellite News Channel
| Satellite News Channel | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Launched | June 21, 1982 |
| Closed | October 27, 1983 |
| Owned by |
ABC Westinghouse Broadcasting (Group W) |
| Slogan | "Give us 18 minutes, we'll give you the world." |
| Country | United States |
Satellite News Channel (SNC) was a joint venture of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and Westinghouse Broadcasting (Group W). Designed as a satellite-delivered cable TV network, SNC used footage from ABC News and seven Washington DC based crews, in addition to stories from other overseas networks to provide a rotating newscast every 20 minutes. The channel is best remembered as the first 24-hour news cable competition to CNN. SNC, was based in the New York City suburb of Stamford, Connecticut.
SNC's slogan, derived from Group W's experience in all-news radio, was "Give us 18 minutes, we'll give you the world."
At launch, Satellite News Channel was provided with compensation to cable operators, contrary to then standard of charging a per subscriber fee. The format is a 18 minute long with time for a regional cut away.
With Group W Satellite Communications, ABC Video Enterprise formed the Satellite News Channel in 1981. The channel was announced as the News-Channel on August 12, 1981 to be launched in early 1982. CNN's Ted Turner then announced the in planning CNN2, which had a similar format, as a preemptive strike against the ABC/Group W venture. CNN2 was operational on January 1, 1982.
Satellite News Channel was on the air from June 21, 1982. During that time, it provided competition for Turner Broadcasting's CNN, the first such network at the time to do so. The channel was on the air for 16 months.
SNC, however, had difficulty getting clearance from cable systems. It was eventually bought by Turner Broadcasting System, CNN's parent and shut down; on most local cable systems it was replaced by either CNN or CNN Headline News (which had changed its name from CNN2 shortly after SNC's launch in 1982).
For a brief time after SNC shut down, its theme music was used by fellow-Connecticut cable network ESPN.
In 1996, ABC revealed plans to launch a 24-hour news channel, however discontinued them after Fox News Channel and MSNBC were announced.
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