(image via saatchikevin)
Remember CNNfn's "The Dolan's Unscripted" and "CNNfn's Open House,"? As economic issues become front and center in households across the globe, one wonders if Time Warner should have been so hasty in pulling the plug on CNN Financial Network (December 29, 1995 to December 15, 2004, RIP), its niche financial news channel. Time Warner folded CNNfn in late 2004 after the network struggled to find an audience. Here in NYC, CNNfn's slot was given to CNN International. In November 2004 Broadcasting and Cable wrote in eulogizing the network:
"CNN Group President Jim Walton contends that CNNfn is actually making money, turning a profit for the first time in its nine-year life. So why close now? There's just too little upside. CNN's top executives felt that making CNNfn worth the effort would require boosting its daytime ratings to an average of 300,000-400,000 viewers. With market leader CNBC averaging half that, how could CNNfn ever hope to get there?"
CNNfn.com ultimately merged with Money Magazine's Web site becoming CNNMoney.com. Aimlessness was frequently cited along with the ratings as to why the network was shuttered. Allen Wastler in Adieu CNNfn, wrote on the network's finale:
"(CNNFn) had the underdog's sense of optimism and purpose, which ultimately produced some great TV. And the network provided some of the best hurry-up offense coverage of major business events ... from Asia meltdowns to hedge fund panics to corporate bankruptcies."
One wonders now though how CNNfn would do with the growing focus on the global financial crisis.
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