When CNN launched in 1980, the idea of a 24-hour news channel was revolutionary. Times have changed, however. Now when viewers think of live news, they expect on-demanding reporting and coverage of newsworthy events that's available whenever and wherever they want it. The 21st-century answer to that expectation is a proliferation of live streams of news services that viewers can access on mobile devices and computers.
The way that news services deliver live stream varies from network to network. In the case of many news channels in the United States such as Fox News and MSNBC, live streams are available for free only to subscribers of cable TV providers who carry the news channel. To view these streams on mobile devices, viewers must sign in to the service using the login information assigned to them by their participating cable providers. Viewers who are not customers of a participating provider cannot view the stream.
Some live streams are accessible to anyone, whether or not they are cable subscribers. The news streams of American broadcast networks such as CBS and ABC are available for free, as are the live streams of the UK's Sky News and the financial news channel Bloomberg Business.
