Cable news channels are television networks devoted to television news broadcasts, with the name deriving from the proliferation of such networks during the 1980s with the advent of cable television.

In the United States, the first nationwide cable TV news channel to launch was CNN in 1980, followed by Financial News Network (FNN) in 1981 and CNN2 (now HLN) in 1982. CNBC was created in 1989, taking control of FNN in 1991. Through the 1990s and beyond, the cable news industry continued to grow, with the establishment of several other networks, including, Fox News Channel, MS NOW, and specialty channels such as Bloomberg Television, Fox Business Network, and ESPN News. More recent additions to the cable news business have been CBSN, Newsmax TV, TheBlaze, NewsNation, part-time news network RFD-TV, and the now defunct Al Jazeera America and Black News Channel.

As some of the most widely available channels, Fox News, CNN, and MS NOW are often referred to as the "big three" with Fox News having the highest viewership and ratings. While the networks are usually referred to as 24-hour news networks, reruns of news programs and analysis or opinion programming are played throughout the night, with the exception of breaking news.

Regional 24-hour cable news television channels that are primarily concerned with local programming and cover some statewide interest have included Spectrum News (a brand used for multiple networks including in upstate New York, North Carolina, Florida and Texas), NY1 (which operates from New York City), News 12 Networks, FiOS1, and the former Northwest Cable News (NWCN) (which operated from Seattle). New England Cable News covers the six-state region of New England.

"Big Three" news channels Listed by the number of viewers, the 'Big Three' cable TV news channels are:

Fox News Channel

Fox News Channel (Fox News) launched on October 7, 1996, and was formed under the ownership of News Corporation (founded by Australian-born media mogul Rupert Murdoch), the fifth largest media company in the United States behind Sony, the original Viacom (now Paramount Skydance), Time Warner (now Warner Bros. Discovery), The Walt Disney Company, Seagram (now NBCUniversal) and MGM (now Amazon). The network is headed by chief executive officer Rupert Murdoch. The network began broadcasting its programming in high definition TV in May 2008.

Since the network's launch, Fox News has gradually grown to become the highest-rated cable network until January 2021, when MSNBC surpassed Fox News briefly before returning to the number two position in February. Fox News's former prime time lineup included programs such as The O'Reilly Factor, hosted by Bill O'Reilly, which had been a top rated program since the early 2000s when considered among major cable news channels. The channel's longtime slogans are "Fair and Balanced" and "We Report, You Decide". Current slogans are "Most Watched. Most Trusted."; "Real News. Real Honest Opinion." and "America's Watching".

MS NOW

MS NOW launched as MSNBC on July 15, 1996, as a partnership between NBC and Microsoft (Microsoft's stake in the channel was gradually bought out by NBC until the latter's parent NBCUniversal bought out the remaining minority stake held by Microsoft in 2011). When the network was launched, its leading hosts included Jodi Applegate, John Gibson, Tim Russert and Brian Williams. For over a decade, the network's ratings were consistently in last place among the cable news channels until February 2021 when MSNBC became the highest watched news channel.

After Phil Griffin became president of MS NOW in mid-2008, the channel began shifting towards an increasingly politically liberal ideology in its analysis programming, particularly in its prime-time lineup.Cable Channel Nods to Ratings and Leans Left. New York Times. Published November 6, 2007. Accessed August 24, 2008. MS NOW launched a high definition simulcast feed on June 29, 2009.

Notable personalities on the network include Morning Joe co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, daytime anchors Katy Tur and Nicolle Wallace, and evening commentators Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow. The network was noted in the mid-2000s for its harsh criticism of then-President George W. Bush, most notably the "special comment" segment of former anchor Keith Olbermann's show, Countdown. This, combined with accusations of support for then-President Barack Obama, have led to MS NOW being criticized for a liberal bias, a reputation it has increasingly embraced with its "Lean Forward" slogan (which it adopted in 2011) and open promotion of progressive and liberal ideas. This has led to MS NOW increasingly shifting towards centrism and establishment politics, displaying (subtly or otherwise) acts of hostility towards progressive politicians e.g. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (a frontrunner in the 2016 and 2020 Democratic presidential primaries). The channel had a spin-off called Shift. Established in 2014, it was an online-only channel through its website ms.now. The programming schedule was less focused on politics than the main channel, built to be a divergence from it and is more tailored to a younger audience. Shift ceased operations without notice some time before 2018.

CNN

Cable News Network (CNN) launched on June 1, 1980, as the first cable channel devoted to news programming. The Persian Gulf War in 1991 catapulted CNN into the spotlight, largely because the channel was the only news outlet with the ability to communicate from inside Iraq during the initial hours of the American bombing campaign, with live reports from the al-Rashid Hotel in Baghdad by reporters Bernard Shaw, John Holliman and Peter Arnett. Throughout the 1990s, CNN (which was at the time the only major cable news channel) became very influential, an influence later coined as the CNN effect.

CNN was the first cable news network to begin broadcasting in high definition in September 2007.TV Week September 6, 2007 CNN HD launches . Today, CNN's television personalities include Wolf Blitzer, Erin Burnett, Anderson Cooper and Jake Tapper.

CNN spinoffs

In 1982, the Turner Broadcasting System (which would merge with Time Warner in 1996) created a spin-off of CNN called CNN2, which was originally formatted to show the top news stories of the day on a 30-minute "wheel" schedule. The channel rebranded as CNN Headline News in 1983, before the network abandoned the CNN branding and changed its name to the orphaned initialism HLN in 2008, following a shift from news programming towards a mix of news during the day and discussion programs and documentary series at night that began two years earlier.

Turner founded CNN International in 1985, with a straight focus on international news stories compared to CNN, which featured an equal emphasis on U.S. and world news. CNN launched a special service on January 20, 1992, called CNN Airport Network which was available exclusively in United States airports; the service simulcast programs from CNN and HLN, but with inserts of information of interest to air travelers. CNN Airport Network shut down in 2020. CNN also operates a Spanish language service, CNN en Español.

Turner Broadcasting also established two, now defunct networks. CNNfn, launched at the end of 1995, attempting to challenge CNBC. It ceased operations after nine years on the air in December 2004. CNNSI, a partnership between CNN and Sports Illustrated, attempted to counter the rising success of ESPNews in covering sports news. While the network was shut down, CNN and Sports Illustrated continue to maintain their partnership, with Sports Illustrated operating a sports section on CNN's website. An online offshoot, CNN+, operated for one month in April 2022 before it was aborted due to poor uptake.

Ratings Fox News has been number one among cable news audiences since supplanting CNN in 2002. Until the start of 2002, CNN was the number one cable news network in the ratings.

Starting in 2013, a major ratings decline at MS NOW has pushed that network to fourth place in March 2015.

Fox News marked its 15th year as the highest-rated cable news channel in the same demographic, posting 2.8 million average total viewers in January 2017. MS NOW beat CNN in total primetime viewers, ranking sixth among all cable networks in January. CNN beat MS NOW, but trailed to the first place Fox News Channel, in total daytime viewers.

Minor news channels

Domestic news and opinion cable channels Newsmax TV

Newsmax TV debuted June 15, 2014 as a television arm of Newsmax Media, a media company better known for its magazine and website. The channel runs a mix of rolling news coverage in the afternoons, video simulcasts of conservative talk radio programs, talk shows, and reruns of documentaries. Talent on the network includes Greta van Susteren, Greg Kelly, Carl Higbie, Tom Basile, Rita Cosby, Rob Schmitt and Chris Salcedo. Former talent includes Eric Bolling, Howie Carr, Wayne Allyn Root, Joe Pagliarulo and Bill O'Reilly. Until mid-2016, it was distributed on both Dish Network and DirecTV. The channel does have numerous local broadcasting affiliates. A live stream of the channel is also available for free online at NewsmaxTV.com, as well as YouTube. Newsmax TV is explicitly conservative in its lean, broadcasting many programs hosted by conservative media personalities including those largely abandoned by Fox News; it is positioned further to the right of Fox News's editorial stance but not as far to the fringe as One America News Network.

The network saw noticeable gains following the 2020 United States presidential election, beating out the business news networks, as conservatives showed increasing dissatisfaction with Fox News coverage of the election.Huston, Warner Todd. Conservative cable news network Newsmax sees ratings surge as people abandon Fox News. Retrieved November 17, 2020.

NewsNation

Nexstar Media Group's NewsNation is a news channel that replaced general entertainment channel WGN America (itself the successor to the superstation feed of WGN-TV in Chicago) on March 1, 2021. The NewsNation brand was introduced for a prime time news block on WGN on September 1, 2020, six months before the scheduled rebranding of the channel as a whole. NewsNation's focus intends to be non-ideological, using its extensive network of local newsrooms from television stations Nexstar owns and/or operates across the United States. Talent on the network includes Dan Abrams, Ashleigh Banfield and Chris Cuomo. The network transitioned to a full 24/7 schedule in the summer of 2024 after its final WGN-era contracts for syndicated programming were exhausted.

Blaze TV

Blaze TV is a news and opinion network operated by Blaze Media, a joint venture between Conservative Review and Glenn Beck's Mercury Radio Arts. It began September 12, 2012 as GBTV, initially controlled solely by Beck, and formed the joint venture December 3, 2018, taking on the programming of CRTV, Conservative Review's subscription video service that had launched in October 2016. Blaze TV is explicitly conservative in perspective, with popular hosts on the network including Beck, Mark Levin, Pat Gray, Steve Deace, Steven Crowder and Phil Robertson. Blaze TV is available via Dish Network and Verizon FiOS, various smaller cable providers, and through subscription Internet television.

Free Speech TV