Unlike ESPNews , which provided 30-minute blocks of news and highlights in a similar fashion to CNN Headline News at the time , CNN/SI was fully live daily from 7 am to 2 am . Their aim was to provide the most comprehensive sports news service on television , bringing in-depth sports news from around the world , and integrating the Internet and television . CNN/SI 's closure has been attributed to competition with other all-sports news networks which started around the same time , such as ESPNews and Fox Sports Net 's '' National Sports Report '' . Though CNN/SI aired exclusive content , such as the tape of Indiana University player Neil Reed appearing to be choked by former coach Bob Knight , the channel reached about only 20 million homes , not enough to receive a rating by Nielsen Media Research , which resulted in reduced sponsorship . ESPNews benefited from the leverage ESPN ( 86.5 million homes ) has with cable operators . In contrast , news channel parent CNN did n't have the same clout with cable operators for its all-sports news channel . CNN 's cancellation of their flagship sports program , '' Sports Tonight '' ( which had already been retooled to compete with '' SportsCenter '' ) in the wake of the September 11 attacks was likely the proximate cause for the closure of CNN/SI , which lost all connections to their mother network
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
CNN/SI