News channels:

Cable news

Further information: United States cable news

Cable news refers to channels which are devoted to current events 24 hours per day. The originator of this format from which the name derives is CNN (as well as CNN International), which originally stood for cable news network in reference to the then-new phenomenon of cable television. As satellite and other forms have evolved, the term cable news has become something of an anachronism but is still in common use; many other channels have since been established, such as BBC World News, BBC News, Sky News, Al Jazeera, France 24, STAR News, Fox News Channel, MSNBC and ABC News Now. Some news channels specialize even further, such as ESPNEWS (sports from ESPN), CNBC, Bloomberg Television and Fox Business Network (financial).

A term which has entered common parlance to differentiate cable news from traditional news broadcasts is network news, in reference to the traditional television networks on which such broadcasts air. A classic example is the cable news channel MSNBC, which overlaps with (and, in the case of breaking world-changing events, pre-empts) its network counterpart NBC News.

[edit] Television news channel

Television news channels are television specialty channels which focus on presenting news content.

The world's first dedicated 24-hour news channels were BBC World News and CNN.

See also: List of news channels

[edit] Radio news

Radio news is the same as television news but is transmitted through the medium of the radio. It is more based on the audio aspect rather than the visual aspect. Sound bites are captured through various reporters and played back through the radio. News updates occur more often on the radio than on the television - usually about once or twice an hour.

At most news/talk radio stations, newscasts run from :00-:06 minutes after the top of each hour. Some stations produce the entire six minutes on their own. Others begin with a network newscast, which covers national and world news, followed by a 2- or 3-minute local newscast. Most of the time, time is taken out of the news "window" for commercials and a weather forecast. In larger cities, traffic reports are also included. Some stations do traffic only during rush hour while others cover traffic around the clock.