April 8th, 2011

CNN Radio Boosts Staff and Launches Additional Content for New Platforms

Major staff hires, new programming, and a greater focus on long-form story telling has kept CNN Radio at the forefront of the current international news cycle, serving its more than one-thousand terrestrial radio affiliates, and also launching new content for new platforms.

With a growing amount of CNN Radio content now available on-line and via wireless services as well as traditional radio affiliates Victor Kong, vice president of CNN News Services, a division of CNN Worldwide has put in place an aggressive growth strategy for the team.

“Our goal is to drive CNN’s audio services onto platforms and devices that have not been our traditional businesses, said Kong. “That means surprising our audiences with a dynamic listening experience as well as creating a more personal and intimate product, content which touches the heart but also stimulates the brain with analysis and discussion”

The CNN Radio team has been boosted by the arrival of new correspondents Libby Lewis who is based in DC and John Sepulvado as correspondent in Atlanta. They are joined by Chip Grabow, Susanna Capelouto, Lisa Campbell and Thomas Andres in our newsroom, and Emma Lacey-Bordeaux, Jonathan Binder, and Gavin Godfrey as Associate Producers.

Chip Grabow, who has over 20 years of radio experience mostly with NPR, will assume the role as Senior Editor in Atlanta overseeing the Associate Producers, Producers and Correspondents. Susanna Capelouto has been named Producer and will work with the correspondents to produce high quality audio stories and continue to support our affiliates with live shots and short-form reports from Atlanta, DC, New York and Los Angeles. Susanna joins CNN Radio from Georgia Public Broadcasting, where she was the News Director for the last 6 years.

With the current news cycle firmly focussed on international stories CNN Radio has again deployed Steve Kastenbaum to Tokyo earlier this month and in addition John Sepulvedo will report from London on the upcoming Royal Wedding.

In addition, CNN Radio is also providing its affiliates with unmatched coverage from North Africa and Middle East through the extensive reporting of other CNN correspondents who are on the ground.

While continuing its traditional programming for terrestrial radio, CNN Radio has also launched:

  • News Updates with top news from the USA and around the world
  • Original radio reports created by radio correspondents
  • Audio content leveraged from CNN TV including interviews that happen daily throughout CNN and HLN and shows such as In The Arena, Piers Morgan Tonight, Fareed Zakaria GPS and AC 360,
  • Original podcasts series focused on Politics, Entertainment, Technology, and Food

This content is currently available on http://www.cnn.com/podcasts, on  iTunes and Zune. Additionally, the domestic hourly update is available via the CNN app for iPad.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

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For more information, visit http://www.CNNPressroom.com.

Contacts:

Nigel.Pritchard@Turner.com                Tel: 404 878 2630                 @nigelCNNpr