1980
June
CNN signs on the air June 1 as the world’s first 24-hour news network reaching 1.7 million cable television households.
Headquartered in Atlanta, CNN opens bureaux in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Washington D.C., London and Rome.

1982
January
CNN2, which later becomes CNN Headline News, a 24 hour US news service broadcasting half hour news bulletins, launches on New Year’s Day.
April
CNN wins lawsuit against ABC, CBS, NBC and White House to gain right of equal participation in the White House press pool.
CNN originates first live U.S. telecast from Cuba since 1958.
CNN Radio, a US radio news network, launches.
May
Tokyo bureau opens.
June
Japan and Australia receive first international distribution of CNN.

1983
Jauary
CNN opens bureaux in Jerusalem and Miami.
August
CNN Cairo bureau opens.
October
CNN purchases Satellite News Channel ABC/Westinghouse’s competitive 24-hour cable news venture.
December
CNN Moscow bureau opens.

1984
March
Premiere of ‘International Hour’, U.S. television’s only news programme devoted exclusively to coverage of global news.

1985
September
CNN International launches, along with 24-hour live transmission to Europe.
December
CNN posts first profitable year.

1986
August
CNN opens Beijing bureau.

1987
January
CNN opens Buenos Aires bureau.
October
World’s first global newscast, ‘CNN World Report’, premieres with unedited, uncensored news reports from broadcasters in 100 countries.
CNN Newsource launches as a provider of news and information to the news industry.
December
CNN Seoul bureau opens.

1988
May
Noticiero CNN, a Spanish newscast for Hispanic markets in the United States and Latin America, launched.

1989
January
CNN transmissions start across all of Latin America on Pan Am Sat1.
March
CNN reaches 50 million U.S. television households..
August
CNN becomes available worldwide 24 hours a day with transmission on a Soviet satellite to Africa, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.
CNN begins "CNN Newsroom", a daily, commercial-free newscast for schools worldwide.
First Soviet customer, Hotel Savoy, airs CNN.
December
CNN operating profit reaches $100 million
CNN and CNN Headline News’ combined share of U.S. news-viewing audience reaches record of 28.4 percent (leading ABC, CBS and NBC).

1990
June
CNN\’s first London produced programme, "World Business Today", launches.
August
W. Thomas Johnson, former publisher of the "Los Angeles Times", becomes CNN\’s third president.
September
CNN and CNN International reach 100 countries.
November
CNN Berlin bureau opens.

1991
September
CNN and TASS reach historic agreement to publish a book about the recent coup attempt in the Soviet Union.
CNN and TV Asahi form joint Bangkok Bureau with separate editorial staff.
November
CNN International airs first regular live programming from CNN’s London bureau.

1992
January
CNN founder R.E. Turner named "TIME" magazine’s Man of the Year.
CNN opens independent Bangkok Bureau.
Launch of CNN Airport Network, a television service designed for airport travellers throughout the US.
March
CNN International begins airing ‘Business Asia’ daily during prime time in the Asia Pacific region..
April
CNN International begins transmission on Astra 1 b direct-to-home satellite, increasing the network’s distribution by 10 million European homes. .
June
CNN acquires Group W Newsfeed, adding 88 U.S. affiliates to the CNN News Group.
July-November
CNN obtains record ratings for coverage of U.S. presidential convention, debate and election.
November
CNN enters joint venture in Germany, creating n-tv, a German-language all news network.

1993
January
CNN International reaches 60 million households, matching CNN audience in the United States.
March
Asia Week programming debuts from Tokyo and Hong Kong. CNN en Espanol Radio, a full-service Spanish-language radio network, launches.
Novembre
CNN International launches CNNTEXT teletext service in Europe on the Astra and Thor satellites.
December
CNN reaches $200 million operating profit level.
CNN bureau opens in Mexico City.

1994
January
CNN opens Johannesburg bureau
August
CNN premieres first live interactive talk show, "TalkBack Live"...
December
CNN International announces major expansion across the Asia Pacific region and the opening of its regional production centre in Hong Kong is slated for March 1995. CNN International is seen in 22 countries and territories across the region. Also reports a 65 percent growth in Asian advertising revenue from January 1994..

1995
January
CNN Hong Kong bureau opens.
August
CNN launches CNN.com a multimedia news service on the internet, making it the first site with a 24-hour, full-time staff reporting constantly updated news augmented by video, sound clips, still photographs, maps and text.
The first CNN African Journalist of the Year Awards take place in Ghana.
September
CNN introduces "CNN Newsroom's WorldView", a five-minute extension of CNN Newsroom, containing international news for schools and creating a continuous 30-minute block of educational programming on the network.
October
AccentHealth, a place-based television network delivering preventative healthcare messages to doctors’ waiting rooms in the US, is launched by Turner Private Networks, in conjunction with the CNN Health Unit..
November
CNN opens bureau in Jakarta..
December
CNN launches fourth network, CNNfn, the financial news network, with companion web site CNNfn.com..

1996
October
CNN’s parent company Turner Broadcasting System Inc merges with Time Warner..
November
CNN reaches 70 million cable households in the U.S.

1997
March
CNN launches CNN en Español, a 24 hour television news network targeted at Latin America and American Hispanic communities,
CNN’s first 24-hour news service in a language other than English.
CNN opens Havana bureau.
February
Regionalisation of CNN International announced with targeted programming delivered to different regions of the world.
July
CNN Beirut bureau opens.
CNNsi.com, CNN’s sports web site, launches.
September
CNN International launches new regionalised schedule for Europe/Africa/Middle East, including morning news and business shows produced in London.

1998
January
CNN launches ‘CNN Presents’, long-form documentary programmes.
June
CNN web sites are visited by more users in the United States in a single month than any other company’s general news and information web sites.
December
CNN Headline News passes 70 million subscribers.

1999
January
CNN+, the first CNN branded regional news channel operated and controlled outside of Atlanta, launches in Spain.
CNN opens bureaux in Frankfurt, Madrid and Boston.
US Senate impeachment trial boosts CNN’s ratings 186 percent.
February
CNN Mobile, the first mobile telephone news and information service available globally with regionally targeted content, launches.
March
CNN en Español’s Mexican feed launches, including Mexico-specific newscasts.
October
CNN opens Istanbul bureau as CNN Turk launches in Istanbul, producing 24 hour Turkish language news programming..
November
CNN begins broadcasts from the first open-air studio at the New York Stock Exchange.
December
CNN provides unprecedented coverage of Millennium events across the globe.
The CNN web sites garner 6.7 billion page impressions during 1999.

2000
January
CNN provides 100 hours of comprehensive Millennium celebration coverage.
April
CNN provides 100 hours of comprehensive Millennium celebration coverage.
May
CNN opens Islamabad bureau.
June
CNN celebrates 20th anniversary.
July
CNN International South Asia launches, offering region-specific programming to Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and other South Asian countries.
CNN opens Baghdad bureau.
September
CNN creates a new web site as a specific educational resource.
CNN.com Europe launches as CNN’s first English-language web site offering news from a regional perspective.
CNN opens its first fully integrated newsroom, capable of gathering and reporting news for multiple platforms, in Hong Kong.
CNN opens new US bureaux in Dallas, Denver and Seattle.
October
n-tv.de launches, partnering with CNN for this German-language web site.
CNN International North America launches to more than 1 million television households.
November
CNN is the most-watched cable news network during the US elections and its controversial aftermath and all previous site traffic records were broken on CNN.com worldwide.
December
The CNN web sites garner 8.9 billion page impressions during 2000.

2001
January
CNN parent company Time Warner, Inc., merges with America Online to become part of the world’s largest media organisation, AOL Time Warner.
CNN announces reorganisation to strengthen bond between all media platforms - including TV, radio, Internet, wire devices and other CNN businesses.
February
"Business International", a daytime news and business programme live from London, launches.
March
CNN announces new bureaux in Sydney and Lagos.
April
CNN announces new bureaux in Sydney and Lagos.
June
CNN to Go launches in the US to deliver news and information to cellular phones, PDAs and pagers through strategic partnerships.
September
Record website traffic was recorded when terrorists attacked the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, breaking all previous records.
On Tuesday September 11, 2001 CNN’s websites served more than 160 million page impressions worldwide. This went up to nearly 340 million on September 12, 2001.
November
CNN unveils ‘International Correspondents’, a round table discussion of world events featuring some of the world’s leading international journalists and media figures.
Décember
CNN unveils ‘International Correspondents’, a round table discussion of world events featuring some of the world’s leading international journalists and media figures.

2002
January
In conjunction with the Dubai Media Centre, CNN opens a new bureau in Dubai and launches CNNArabic.com.
CNN Mobile launches Breaking News SMS service.
September
‘The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Global Edition’, a weekly satirical look at the lighter side of international news, debuts on CNN.
December
CNN Web sites garner more than 16 billion page impressions for the year 2002.

2003
January
Jim Walton is named as President of the CNN News Group.
CNN launches its Korean-language Web site Asia.cnn.com/Korea. It is the second Asian-language site to be launched by CNN.
CNN.com international edition launched, uniting the editorial strength of CNN.com Europe and Asia, produced in London, Hong Kong, Sydney and Atlanta.
March
CNN launches a specially targeted channel for Japan, CNNJ, in partnership with Japanese cable operator JCTV, delivering a unique programme schedule with Japanese sub-titling.
September
Chris Cramer appointed managing director of CNN International, incorporating international newsgathering.

2004
December
Jonathan Klein named president of CNN/U.S..
Février
CNN launched its first streaming service for mobile phones, in partnership with mobilkom, Austria.
CNN Headline News debuted its Headline Prime line-up of Showbiz Tonight, Nancy Grace and Prime News Tonight, breaking the network’s traditional news wheel for the first time in its 23-year history.

2005
January
CNN International launches ‘CNN Connects’, a series global discussion round-table programmes.
June
CNN celebrates 25th anniversary.

2006
January
Launch of « CNN pipeline » VOD service
Launch of the new magazine “the briefing room” on cnn.com