CNN shatters ratings record, 3D TV image
January 19, 2009
Wall-to-wall coverage of the US presidential election in helped CNN shatter ratings records last year. CNN's election night coverage attracted more than 13 million viewers, beating broadcast networks and cable rivals, and courting younger viewers with gimmicks such as holograms of its correspondents. In spite of this, the network ended the year as it has for the seventh straight period; behind Rupert Murdoch's Fox News in ratings.
CNN is also aiming to be the first to freeze a moment in time. In co-operation with Microsoft, CNN is asking the tens of thousands of attendees of the US presidential inauguration to send in photographs from camera phones and other devices to create a massive three-dimensional model of the event. User-submitted photos will be stitched together based on common elements using Microsoft's Photosynth technology to create a 3D computer graphic model of the moment when Barack Obama takes the oath of office. The 3D model will be aired on TV.