Flickr CC Television news fragmentation in the United States began on 01 June 1980 when Robert “Ted” Turner launched CNN in Atlanta, Georgia. At that time, national television news took place for 30 minutes each evening about dinner time. TV sets would show ABC News (Frank Reynolds, Peter Jennings, Max Robinson), CBS News (Walter Cronkite) or NBC News (John Chancellor), depending on which local television station broadcast a signal strong enough for the antenna on your roof to capture. In 1977, those three broadcast networks accounted for more than 90% of the prime-time television (news and en…