ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, November 14, 1996 TAG: 9611140037
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: IN SPORTS
Billing itself as ``The Sports News Network,'' CNN-SI will start broadcasting Dec.12, available in more than 2.5 million American homes by satellite alone, ensuring it a bigger launch than archrival ESPNEWS.
ESPN's entry in the 24-hour all-sports news sweepstakes began Nov.1 to 1.5 million homes, most of them served by satellite.
CNN-SI is a collaboration of Ted Turner's Cable News Network, which invented 24-hour all-news TV, and the weekly sports magazine Sports Illustrated, which both fall under the Time Warner umbrella since the merger.
At the start, CNN-SI will be simulcast on CNN, giving it an initial potential audience of 70 million homes. ESPN also simulcast the ESPNEWS launch.
LENGTH: Short : 25 linesby CNB