Satellite News Channel launch a spin-off service, CNN2 (later renamed CNN Headline News shortly after SNC's launch; it is now named HLN), which originally maintained a format similar to that being planned by the Satellite News Channel – albeit with newscasts running in 30-minute intervals – as a preemptive strike against the ABC/Group W venture. CNN2 made its launch on January 1, 1982 on participating cable systems across the county as well as through a sneak preview block on sister channel Superstation WTBS. Satellite News Channel launched on June 21, 1982. During that time, it provided competition for CNN, the first cable network
William Headline bureau chief in Washington, D.C., filling a position that had been occupied by six different individuals in the three years before he was hired. As bureau chief, Headline oversaw the growth of CNN Washington bureau from 80 to 350 staff members. He remained as bureau chief until 1996, when CNN named him to serve as the vice president managing special projects and pool assignments. He served as the chairman of the Washington-based Radio and Television Correspondents' Association. Headline left CNN in 1998 and became the executive director of the Voter News Service, a consortium of television networks and newspapers that