CNNSI (SI standing for Sports Illustrated) was a news network set up by CNN in December 1996, dedicated to broadcasting exclusively sports news.  The creation of the channel brought together the news and production facilities and expertise of CNN, with the sports news and knowledge of their parent company's sports magazine, Sports Illustrated.

CNN/SI aimed to provide the most comprehensive sports news service on television, including news from around the country and around the world.

What led to CNNSI'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.

Towards the end, CNNSI made a forray into live sports programming, adding some NASCAR qualifying, Wimbledon tennis matches, games from the now-defunct Women's United Soccer Association and coverage from the National Lacrosse League.

CNNSI went off air on May 15, 2002. On many cable systems, CNNSI was replaced by NBA TV, which eventually evolved into a joint venture between Time Warner and the NBA that officially launched on October 28, 2008.

While the network closed, its international sports programme World Sport continues airing and since 2002 has been produced by CNN International.

'Triage'

This may look like a basic computer monitor but it's quite a miracle of technology. Built specifically for CNN/Sports Illustrated, it is where incoming video is recorded, logged, and then sent straight to an editor without the person ever having to get up from their chair.

How this handy machine works:  As a sporting event is taking place, a logger watches and keeps track of the action whilst the triage digitizes the incoming video. When the logger sees a good play, he/she marks it and it automatically goes to an editing machine. Editors piece together the plays that are sent to them while the game is still in progress. This gave CNNSI producers up-to-the-minute highlights of numerous simultaneous sporting events. It also eliminated the need to run tapes back and forth to the editors.