CNN Sports Illustrated (or CNN/SI for short) was a 24-hour venture of CNN and Sports Illustrated, launched with much fanfare December 12, 1996. CNN/SI planned to utilize CNN's and Sports Illustrated's brands and resources to provide a world-class, sports news service
CNN/SI's intentions was to provide the most comprehensive sports news service in television. Based in Atlanta, CNN/SI had the ability to go live to report and analyze sports news from around the country and around the world.
What led to CNN/SI's demise was that it had the misfortune of being born about the same time as all-sports news rivals ESPNews and Fox Sports Net's National Sports Report. Though CNN/SI could boast of exclusives 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 was a killer with sponsors. ESPNews benefited from the leverage ESPN (86.5 million homes) has with cable operators. In contrast, news channel parent CNN didn't have the same clout with cable operators for its all-sports news channel.
In its dying days, CNN/SI added some NASCAR qualifying, Wimbledon matches and televised the Women's United Soccer Association.
CNN/SI closed its doors on May 15, 2002.
