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NEWS RELEASE SPORTS TONIGHT Celebrates 20 Years
Posted: Thursday June 15, 2000 03:24 PM CNN and CNN/Sports Illustrated's benchmark sports news and highlights show, SPORTS TONIGHT, will celebrate its 20th anniversary on June 1. The show first aired on June 1, 1980, when the Cable News Network (CNN) debuted. The show's birthday coincides with 20 years of sports at CNN. SPORTS TONIGHT is currently hosted by Fred Hickman and Vince Cellini and airs at 11:00 p.m. (ET) on CNN and on the 24-hour sports network, CNN/Sports Illustrated. Originally, for almost seventeen years, dating from 1980-1997, Nick Charles, now a senior correspondent for CNN/Sports Illustrated, accompanied Fred Hickman as co-host of SPORTS TONIGHT. Both Hickman and Charles are CNN Sports originals. SPORTS TONIGHT, which is produced by CNN/Sports Illustrated, provides up-to-the-minute news, scores and highlights, while offering depth and perspective to sports news with inside information, analysis and commentary from Sports Illustrated. Fred Hickman joined CNN in 1980. Hickman won CableACEs (Award for Cable Excellence) for best sports host in 1993 and 1994 and was nominated for the award in 1991, 1992 and 1999. Hickman began his career in 1977 at KLWW-AM in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he was a news anchor. He then moved to WFMB-AM in Springfield, Ill. Before joining CNN, Hickman was sports director and anchor at Springfield's television station, WICS. Hickman spent two years away from CNN from 1984-1986 at WDIV-TV in Detroit, Mich., as a sports anchor. Nick Charles joined CNN one month before it launched in 1980. Charles is now host of PAGE ONE WITH NICK CHARLES, a show investigating the most current and compelling topics in sports. The show airs on CNN and CNN/Sports Illustrated. During Charles' tenure as co-host of SPORTS TONIGHT, the show won CableACEs (Award for Cable Excellence) for Best Sports Information Series in 1986 and 1987. He also won a CableACE for Best Sports Host in 1985. Before joining CNN, Charles was sports director and reporter at WTOP-AM in Washington, D.C. Charles' sportscasting background also includes stints as sports director at WRC-TV in Washington, WJZ-TV in Baltimore, Md., and WICS-TV in Springfield, Ill., where he began his career. Vince Cellini, an 18-year veteran of sports television, is an anchor for CNN/Sports Illustrated. He, alongside Fred Hickman, co-anchors SPORTS TONIGHT Monday through Friday from 11-11:30 p.m. (ET) on CNN. He assumed this position after hosting CNN's NFL PREVIEW and THIS WEEK IN THE NBA. Cellini joined CNN Sports in 1989. -CNN/Sports Illustrated- CONTACT: Amy Sasser 404/827-5021 Amy Stober 404/827-5538
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