HLN (TV network)

"Headline News" redirects here. For the song by "Weird Al" Yankovic, see Headline News (song).

"HNN" redirects here. For History News Network, based at George Mason University, see History News Network. For mathematical construction in group theory, see HNN extension.

HLN

Country	United States
Headquarters	CNN Center, Atlanta, Georgia
Programming
Language(s)	English
Ownership
Owner	Cable News Network, Inc. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (Time Warner)

HLN (formerly "CNN Headline News") is an American basic cable and satellite television channel that is owned by Cable News Network, Inc., a unit of the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner. The channel is a spin-off of the U.S. cable news channel CNN.

The channel was originally structured to feature a tightly-formatted, 30-minute newscast that was rebroadcast each half-hour, 24 hours a day, with freshly-updated information that briefly covered various areas of interest (such as national news, sports, entertainment, weather and business). Since 2005, however, its format has increasingly shifted to long-form tabloid-, opinion-, crime-, and entertainment news-related programming. Since the mid-2000s, HLN has been available internationally on cable and satellite in parts of Asia, the Caribbean and South America.

As of August 2013, HLN is available to approximately 99,010,000 American households (85.82% of households with at least one television set) in the United States.

History

Launch

The channel originally launched as CNN2 on January 1, 1982. In January of the following year, it was renamed Headline News. From around that point until 1992, the channel was often abbreviated as "HN" (the channel would later incorporate a die-cut "HN" block design within the original variant of its third logo when it was introduced in 1989, before it was fully supplanted by the wordmark that accompanied it in 1992, which was later italicized).

Originally, the channel's programming was formatted around the idea that a viewer could tune in at any time of day or night (instead of having to wait for the merely once- or twice-daily national news segments in local newscasts, or morning or evening network news programs), and receive up-to-date information on the top national and international stories in just 30 minutes. This "Headline News Wheel" format featured: "Dollars and Sense" business and personal finance reports at 15 and 45 minutes past each hour; sports scores and headlines (branded as "Headline Sports") at 20 and 50 minutes past the hour; lifestyle reports at 25 and 55 minutes past the hour; and general news during the top (:00) and bottom (:30) of the hour. The :25/:55 lifestyle segment was designed to allow local cable systems the option of pre-empting it with a local headline "capsule" from an associated regional cable news channel or a local television station. Another regular feature, the "Hollywood Minute", was often fitted-in after the "Headline Sports" segment. In the channel's early years, a two-minute recap of the hour's top stories, the "CNN Headlines," would run after the sports segment.

Its longest-serving news anchor was Chuck Roberts, who retired on July 30, 2010, after a 28-year career with the network. During its first year, Headline News had a competitor in the form of Group W's Satellite News Channel, which operated from June 21, 1982 to October 27, 1983. SNC's satellite slot was then purchased by Ted Turner to expand Headline News' reach further into additional homes.

Jon Petrovich was hired in the mid-1980s by Turner to lead Headline News. In 1990, Headline News developed Local Edition, a six minute-long local newscast, whose content was produced by a local broadcast station in the participating market, airing at the end of each half-hour of Headline News' rolling news block. The channel included the "CNN" branding in its name intermittently for most of its history, before being incorporated on a regular basis from 1997 to 2007 (though an alternate logo without the CNN logo was used for news broadcasts through 2001).

In 1989, Headline News introduced a ticker that appeared at the lower one-third of the screen – except during commercial breaks, which initially showed stock market data with indexes of the major stock exchanges (including the Dow Jones Industrial Average, NASDAQ and the S&P 500) and quotes for major companies during trading hours, which were updated on a 15-minute delay. In 1992, the channel added the "Headline News SportsTicker", which showed sports scores and schedules for the day's upcoming games, creating the first continuous news ticker on television. The redesign resulted in video of the rolling newscasts becoming pillarboxed with blue bars on the left and right wings of the screen (matching the ticker's original coloring), before it returned to a full-screen format, with the ticker becoming a translucent black background overlaid on the lower third of the video, as part of a 1994 update to the channel's graphics package that also added weather forecasts for select major U.S. cities to the ticker.

Nearly a victim of a hoax

On January 8, 1992, Headline News almost became the victim of a hoax. When President George H.W. Bush fainted at a state dinner in Tokyo, Japan, a person claiming to be the president's physician called into the channel's Atlanta headquarters and claimed that Bush had died. At 9:45 a.m., anchor Don Harrison prepared to break the story, stating "This just in to CNN Headline News, and we say right off the bat, we have not confirmed this through any other sources..." Executive producer Roger Bahre, who was off-camera, immediately yelled "No! Stop!" After glancing away momentarily, Harrison continued, "We are now getting a correction. We will not give you that story. It was regarding some rather tragic news involving President Bush, but updating that story, President Bush is reported to be resting comfortably." It turned out that an Idaho man, James Edward Smith, called CNN posing as the president's physician. A CNN employee entered the information into a centralized computer used by both CNN and Headline News, and it nearly got out on the air before it could be verified. Smith was subsequently questioned by the Secret Service and Bush was hospitalized at a private medical facility.

Jukebox effect

1997-2001 CNN Headline News logo on a table in the food court at CNN Center. This table has since been removed.

In 1992, Headline News pioneered the use of a digital video "jukebox" to recycle segments of one newscast seamlessly into another. The new technology reduced the number of staffers needed by enabling news segments to be re-used throughout an entire day (previously, anchors read the same stories repeatedly, hour after hour, with the second 15 minutes of each half-hour in the "wheel" being broadcast on videotape every third and fourth hour). This resulted in the layoffs of part of its staff, including such stalwart anchors as Lyn Vaughn, David Goodnow and Bob Losure, all of whom had been with Headline News for over 10 years.

A new look and format changes

The channel became noted for its distinct "screen" that was introduced in August 2001 as part of an extensive imaging overhaul of CNN Headline News (which included the introduction of a new simplified wordmark logo that incorporated the "CNN" brand full-time), in which the news anchor (or news footage) appears in a sort of visual "window" surrounded by constantly changing text, such as breaking news, sports scores, stock market reports and weather updates. Due to the growing competition from Fox News Channel and MSNBC, in 2003 Time Warner revamped CNN Headline News with a more flexible format, featuring live reports and utilizing two anchors to co-host the channel's rolling news coverage.

File:Headlineprime.png

Headline Prime title card.

In 2005, the channel substantially reduced the amount of on-screen information, following much scrutiny and lampooning of their format (including USA Today calling their screen a "jumbled mess"). The new look would consist of a yellow bar which added sports scores and stock quotes to the basic "ticker" of news headlines. The channel also began a shift away from its rolling news coverage throughout primetime, with the introduction of longer, personality-based programs (under the umbrella title "Headline Prime") that February.

The channel's new programs included Showbiz Tonight, a daily entertainment news show hosted by A.J. Hammer (which ran until November 2013); an eponymous legal news and discussion program hosted by Nancy Grace; and a general national news program titled Prime News Tonight, hosted by Mike Galanos. This move had the unintended consequence of eliminating the main difference between CNN Headline News and CNN (during primetime), since CNN had always broadcast a variety of news-related programs (such as documentaries and personality-based shows like Larry King Live).

Additional programming changes took place with the introduction of News To Me, a program featuring only user-generated content, in May of that year, a daily broadcast of the previous evening's Larry King Live in June, and a shift towards the channel's rolling news coverage being handled by a single anchor, deviating from the channel's traditional dual anchor format that had been in use since 2003 while in turn restoring the original anchor format that Headline News had used prior to then. The Larry King Live rebroadcast was later replaced by an encore of the previous evening's edition of Showbiz Tonight (that in turn was dropped for an extension of Morning Express).

News and Views

On December 15, 2008, in conjunction with CNN's own graphics changes, which resembled the graphics of its sister channel CNN International, Headline News replaced its news ticker with a "flipper", which featured an RSS feed of the current headlines on its parent network's website, CNN.com. The same day, a new square logo with a triangular appendage (making it resemble a speech bubble) overlaid by an "HLN" acronym was introduced, initially alongside the channel's full name. Two days later, the "Headline News" name was removed from on-air use with the HLN acronym becoming the channel's name full-time, and a new slogan, "News and Views", was introduced (the "Headline News" name remains in use for on-screen copyright notices).

On March 28, 2011, HLN switched its primary standard definition feed from full-screen to a letterboxed 4:3 format, which is a downconversion from the 16:9 high definition feed; however, video footage broadcast in standard definition on either feed is not pillarboxed (as such with parent channel CNN, since its SD feed switched from full-screen to letterbox in January 2011), leaving black bars on the right and left sides of the screen, in addition to on the top and bottom of the screen. However HLN Saturday Night Mysteries, which features repurposed versions of sister channel TruTV's crime story programming, is broadcast in 4:3 full-screen on the HLN SD feed.

During the spring of 2011, HLN devoted a significant amount of its broadcast day to the Casey Anthony murder trial, dedicating multiple daily and primetime slots to live coverage of the proceedings followed by commentary during the evening. The saturated coverage of the trial led to increased ratings for the network, including a doubling in regular viewership during daytime hours and nearly triple that in primetime. HLN executive vice president Scot Safon called the trial "a gigantic deal" for the network. HLN also devoted a significant amount of time to the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray (who was accused of prescribing the drugs that caused the death of Michael Jackson) during the fall of 2011.

On July 18, 2011, CNN began offering live streams of HLN for mobile devices to subscribers of certain pay television services. On November 4, 2011, HLN launched its own website at hlntv.com. By contrast to CNN.com, the site is run by HLN's own editorial staff, emphasizing "must see and must share" stories, and content tying into its television programs.

In May 2012, HLN acquired the rights to telecast the Daytime Emmy Awards, beginning with the 39th annual event on June 23, 2012; this marked the first time that the awards ceremony was aired on cable, instead of broadcast television. With 912,000 viewers (not counting four repeat broadcasts, which brought the total to two million), the broadcast was "the most watched regularly scheduled, non-news telecast" ever on HLN.

In November 2013, consumer advocate Clark Howard ended his five-year relationship with HLN, including his appearances on Morning Express with Robin Meade and Evening Express as well as his own eponymous weekend afternoon program, because of programming changes occurring at the channel as HLN "rebranded as the first TV home for the social media generation."

Transmission and reception

Due to the channel's tradition of airing rolling news coverage, HLN has become popular with people who may not have time to watch lengthy news reports, in addition to places where a high demand for "get to the point" news exists, such as airports, bars, and many other places.

Since its inception, Headline News has been syndicated to broadcast television stations (especially affiliates of major broadcast networks) throughout the United States, with its programming mainly airing in overnight time periods as stations began to transition from signing off at night to carrying a full 24-hour program schedule. Until 1995, much of Headline News' programming was simulcast on sister channel CNN International; the channel's news ticker was not displayed on CNN International during its simulcasts of Headline News programming.

The channel's program audio was also simulcast on AM radio stations across the country via Westwood One; all of CNN's U.S. radio operations (including the HLN simulcast) were discontinued on April 1, 2012 as part of Westwood One's dissolution into Dial Global. The audio feed is also carried on XM Satellite Radio channel 123 and Sirius Satellite Radio channel 116.

International

Beginning in the mid-2000s, the channel has been available in certain countries outside the United States, particularly in Asia and Latin America. While the international feed's program lineup is exactly the same as that seen in the U.S., weather forecasts for Asian and Latin American cities are used as break fillers in lieu of commercials.

High definition

HLN operates a high definition simulcast feed that broadcasts in the 1080i resolution format. It is available nationally on most cable and satellite providers within the United States, and in Canada on satellite provider Bell TV, which downconverts the HD feed's picture resolution to 720p.

Programming

HLN presents a variety of programming, providing rolling news coverage from the early morning through the late afternoon (Eastern Time), followed by subject-oriented programming during primetime hours.

Current shows

Weekdays
ET	Program	Description
6a–12p	Morning Express with Robin Meade	The channel's morning news program featuring a wheel format of news, weather, sports, entertainment, finance and travel; hosted by Robin Meade with Bob Van Dillen, Jennifer Westhoven and Brian McFayden.
12– 3p	HLN Now	A program featuring news stories trending on social media; anchored by Mike Galanos with Christi Paul.
3– 5p	HLN Now: On The Case	Susan Hendricks and the legal team covers the most talked-about court trials and criminal cases.
5–7p	Forensic Files	Experts assemble the pieces of a crime puzzle. Viewers are shown multiple choice questions looking at the proof and questioning the accused.
7–8p	Jane Velez-Mitchell	Program featuring legal analysis and crime stories.
8–9p	Nancy Grace	A justice themed/interview/debate show; replays from 2:00–3:00 a.m.
	Nancy Grace Mysteries	A documentary series that looks at America's most notorious crimes; airs Fridays.
9–10p	Dr. Drew On Call	Medical and psychological views about current events; airs Monday–Thursdays.
10p–1a	Forensic Files	A documentary series that looks at solving fascinating crimes, unfortunate incidents and disease outbreaks using the technique of forensics. Replays from 3–6 a.m.; also airs Fridays from 9:00–11:59 p.m. and Saturdays from 12:00–7:00 a.m.
1–2a	Right This Minute	A program – which is also distributed via broadcast syndication – featuring popular or shocking online viral videos that is tailored to young adult viewers; hosted by Gayle Bass, Nick Calderone, Steven Fabian, Beth Troutman and Christian Vera. Airs Tuesday through Fridays.
Saturday
ET	Program	Description
7a– 1p	Weekend Express	An up-to-speed glance at the trending news of the day, along with lifestyle information; hosted by Lynn Berry.
1p–7a	Forensic Files	A documentary series that looks at solving fascinating crimes, unfortunate incidents and disease outbreaks using the technique of forensics.
Sunday
ET	Program	Description
7a– 1p	Weekend Express	An up-to-speed glance at the trending news of the day, along with lifestyle information; hosted by Lynn Berry.
1p–6a	Forensic Files	A documentary series that looks at solving fascinating crimes, unfortunate incidents and disease outbreaks using the technique of forensics.

CNN Student News

HLN broadcasts CNN Student News, a 10-minute news program designed for broadcast in schools that is produced as part of the Cable in the Classroom initiative, which airs Monday through Fridays from 4:00 a.m. (due to the program's short length, an abbreviated 50-minute edition of a replayed program from its primetime schedule – currently, Forensic Files – follows Student News); the program is anchored by Carl Azuz, with reports on the day's news presented in a simplified format (and with stories featuring graphic imagery or adult themes usually left out from the program). CNN Student News is also available as a free podcast on the program's website and on iTunes.

Sound logo

The channel's mnemonic sonic logo was produced by Musikvergnuegen and written by Walter Werzowa from the Austrian 1980s sampling band Edelweiss.

On-air staff

Anchors and reporters

^HLN Indicates anchor/reporter who appears exclusively on HLN.

^HLN/CNN Indicates anchor/reporter who appears on both HLN and CNN.

• Laura Baron ^HLN
• Lynn Berry ^HLN
• Bonnie Blossman ^HLN
• Mike Brooks ^HLN
• Catherine Callaway ^HLN
• Joe Carter ^HLN
• Jean Casarez ^HLN
• Shanon Cook ^HLN/CNN
• Loni Coombs ^HLN
• Ray D'Alessio ^HLN
• Corri Fetman ^HLN
• Holly Firfer ^HLN
• Jeff Fischel ^HLN/CNN
• Mike Galanos ^HLN
• Sara Ganim ^HLN/CNN
• Keri Glassman ^HLN
• Nancy Grace ^HLN
• A.J. Hammer ^HLN
• Jenny Hutt ^HLN
• Susan Hendricks ^HLN/CNN
• Stacey Honowitz ^HLN
• Clark Howard ^HLN
• Nikki Joel ^HLN
• Robi Ludwig ^HLN
• Brian McFayden ^HLN
• Robin Meade ^HLN
• Ashleigh Merchant ^HLN
• Christi Paul ^HLN/CNN
• Kyra Phillips ^HLN
• Dr. Drew Pinsky ^HLN
• Vinnie Politan ^HLN
• Jasmine Rand ^HLN
• Renee Rockwell ^HLN
• Robin Sax ^HLN
• Samantha Schacher ^HLN
• Raina Seitel ^HLN
• Yasmin Vossoughian^HLN
• Bonnie Schneider ^HLN/CNN
• Kim Serafin ^HLN
• Jennifer Smetter ^HLN
• Melanie Snare ^HLN
• Jim Spellman ^HLN
• Patti Stanger ^HLN
• Dr. Lauren Streicher ^HLN
• Nischelle Turner ^HLN
• Leeann Tweeden ^HLN
• Bob Van Dillen ^HLN
• Jane Velez-Mitchell ^HLN
• Dr. Michelle Ward ^HLN
• Jennifer Westhoven ^HLN
• Matt Zarrell ^HLN (Nancy Grace producer/reporter)
• Kelli Zink ^HLN

Former anchors and reporters

• Brooke Anderson (now at Entertainment Tonight)
• Angela Astore
• Rudi Bakhtiar (now director of communications for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran; serves as senior advisor at Voice of America)
• Brooke Baldwin (now at CNN)
• Bobbie Battista (now at Onion News Network)
• Glenn Beck (now at TheBlaze TV)
• Joy Behar
• Gayle Bierman
• Laurie Bishop (now at NCR)
• Russell Biven (now at WBIR-TV)
• Michelle Bonner (now at ESPN)
• Richard Brown
• Stan Case (deceased)
• Richelle Carey (now at Al Jazeera America)
• Helen Casey
• Virginia Cha (now at KGTV)
• Sophia Choi (now at WSB-TV)
• Brian Christie
• Leesa Clark (retired)
• Adrianna Costa
• Dave Cotton (now at KHQ-TV)
• Natasha Curry
• Kysa Daniels (now founder and president of Clarion Communications)
• Alisha Davis (now at WLUK-TV)
• Carlos Diaz
• Denise Dillon (now at WAGA-TV)
• Bud Elliott (now at KJWL)
• Marc Fein (now at KXAS)
• Sasha Foo (now at KUSI-TV)
• Peter Ford (retired)
• Patrice Formby
• Judy Fortin (now at NewsCertified Exchange)
• Stephen Frazier (retired)
• Ginger Geoffrey (now at WKBW-TV)
• Courtney George
• Lori Geary (now at WSB-TV)
• Sabrina Gibbons (now at WSB AM and FM)
• David Goodnow (retired)
• Gordon Graham (now at Florida's News Channel)
• Dan Hackel (now visiting associate professor of communications at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville)
• Don Harrison (deceased)
• Pat Harvey (now at KCBS-TV)
• Tom Haynes (now at WAGA-TV)
• Kara Henderson (now at NFL Network)
• Erica Hill (now at NBC News)
• Valerie Hoff (now at WXIA-TV)
• John Huck (now at KVVU-TV)
• Tracy Hutchins
• Micah Johnson
• Robin Johnson
• Jerome Jurenovich (now at Fox Sports South and SportSouth)
• Mike Kavanaugh
• Kathleen Kennedy
• Cindy Klose (now at KWCH)
• Sachi Koto (now on the board of directors at The Japan-America Society of Georgia)
• Nicole Lapin (now at CNN)
• Denise Leclair
• Loretta Lepore
• Bob Losure (retired)
• Richard Lui (now at MSNBC)
• Miguel Marquez (now at CNN)
• Pam Mason
• Connie Mayberry
• Cami McCormick (now at CBS News)
• Janice McDonald
• Dave Michaels
• Kris Osborn
• Steve Overmeyer
• Christina Park (now at WNYW)
• Eric Phillips
• Jacque Reid
• Marilyn Ringo (retired)
• Chuck Roberts (retired)
• Thomas Roberts (now at MSNBC)
• Lynne Russell (now at WNBC)
• Renay San Miguel (now host/managing editor at Spark360.tv and chief content officer at Splash Media)
• Will Selva (now at NFL Network)
• Larry Smith
• Kate Snow (now at NBC News)
• Pat St. Claire
• Linda Stouffer (now at WSB-TV)
• Glen Summers
• Andrea Thompson
• Toria Tolley (now at American Profile)
• Patti Tripathi (now President, TriPath Media; society columnist)
• Lyn Vaughn (now at Troy University)
• Shelley Walcott (now at WTMJ-TV)
• Dave Walker
• Gary Warner (retired)
• Rafer Weigel (now at ESPN Radio)
• Jennie West
• Jim Wilkerson
• Jack Womack
• Van Earl Wright (now owner/president at Wright Stuff Productions)
• Jay Young (deceased)
• Charles Zewe (now at Louisiana State University)

Network slogans

• "You're In Tune with the World" (1982–1984)
• "Anytime, All the Time" (1983–1999)
• "Around the World in 30 Minutes" (1987–1994)
• "A Whole Day's News Every Half Hour" (1994–1995)
• "Bringing You the World for 15 Years, 30 Minutes at a Time" (1997; used for the channel's 15th anniversary)
• "24 Hour Non-Stop Headlines" (1999–2000)
• "Get to the Point News"/"The Get to the Point News Network" (2000–2002)
• "Real News, Real Fast" (2002–2008)
• "News and Views" (2008–2014)
• "We're Not the News Network, You Are." (2014–present)

External links

• www.hlntv.com - HLN official website
• www.cnn.com - CNN official website
• Headline News clips from the 1980s and 1990s (YouTube)
• Headline News idents and graphics from the 1980s and 1990s
• HLN filler for international viewers during U.S. commercial breaks (YouTube)