The Cable News Network (CNN), was an American basic cable and satellite television channel owned by the CNN Global division of Warner Bros. Discovery. Upon its launch, CNN became the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and was the first all-news television network in the United States. Founded under Turner Broadcasting System in 1980, the channel's success set the stage for conglomerate Time Warner's acquisition of said parent company in 1996. Time Warner later became WarnerMedia after AT&T Inc.'s buyout in 2018. However, due to creative differences and debts, AT&T split from WarnerMedia as it merged with Discovery, Inc., forming Warner Bros. Discovery. Early history (1980–1989) Launch Three and a half years before CNN's launch, in December 1976, Ted Turner turned his Atlanta, Georgia independent station WTCG into one of the original satellite-distributed television channels, leasing a transponder on RCA's Satcom 1 geostationary satellite. The Cable News Network was intended to be distributed on RCA's new Satcom 3, which was lost on its launch date of December 7, 1979. Because replacement transmission capacity was not readily available, the Turner Broadcasting System filed suit against RCA seeking use of another communications satellite and $35.5 million in damages. On March 5, Turner announced that a consent order had been worked out with RCA in federal court, allowing CNN to begin operations on June 1 as scheduled, using a transponder on Satcom 1. The network launched on Sunday, June 1, 1980 at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time with an original staff of 300 employees based at its headquarters in Atlanta, and bureaus in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. The station first pictured a shot of the CNN logo on a red background with a 750 hertz tone followed by silence. Afterwards, the inaugural broadcast on the channel was an introduction by Ted Turner. Following the introduction and a pre-recorded version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" (which was a tradition whenever a new Turner-owned network launched) that was played afterward, the husband and wife team of Dave Walker and Lois Hart anchored the channel's first newscast. Among the first segments was an interview with then-President Jimmy Carter by Daniel Schorr. And to let "the undecided voter … hear the issues debated by all three leading candidates" in the second 1980 presidential debate, Schorr read the debate questions to John B. Anderson. CNN then aired Anderson's live responses