participating stores received a cut of advertising revenue. The launch of CNN Checkout Channel was meant to provide another platform for CNN content besides television at home; Turner Private Networks vice president Scott Weiss explained that "I think we are reacting to what we believe is an insatiable appetite in our generation for information. They want it live. They want it now, on an instant basis." ActMedia had predicted that CNN Checkout Channel would operate in at least 5,000 stores by 1992, offering at least 60 million impressions per-week. However, by 1993, CNN Checkout Channel was only available at a total of 840 stores covering 17 markets. Programming The Philadelphia Inquirer likened CNN Checkout Channel to a "cut-down" version of CNN Headline News; its news programming consisted of summaries of headlines and short feature segments. Commercials, which last 15 to 30 seconds, took 40 percent of the airtime. The service's news content was tailored to different demographics based on two dayparts; the stories focused more on women by day and men by night. CNN held full editorial control over the content broadcast by the CNN Checkout Channel, and had a staff of 30 employees dedicated to the service. The service broadcast programming in 8- to 10-minute blocks, with advertisements broadcast in between; 8 minutes was calculated as the average waiting time in a supermarket checkout line. News programming would be updated throughout the day, and the network would also be able to present "live in short form" coverage of breaking news events when warranted. Michael Rourke, then-vice president of A&P, explained that the televisions could also be used to display in-store content. Reception and demise CNN Checkout Channel received mixed reviews; a representative of Acme Market reported that the service had received varying responses from its customers, stating that "some people love it, some people are oblivious to it, some people hate it. The predominant number don't respond to it at all." Similar responses to the service were also gauged in interviews of shoppers by the Philadelphia Inquirer at an Acme location. Cashiers working at stores that had installed the CNN Checkout Channel found the service to be distracting; in an Associated Press report of CNN Checkout Channel's launch, a cashier told a reporter that the repeating commercials played by the television was "driving [her] crazy". In response to similar complaints, some stores turned down the volume on the televisions