The Children’s Miracle Network telethon began on WRAL-TV in 1993 as a way to raise money for medical research and treatment of children’s health issues.

The CMN organization was founded by the well-known Osmond family (Donny & Marie et al) and actor John Schneider, among others. The network is made up of 170 children’s hospitals across the country.

WRAL’s first telethon raised nearly a million dollars for patients undergoing treatment at Duke Children’s Hospital in Durham. In 1994 MIX-101.5 began its annual CMN “Radiothon” that has raised more than $15 million in the last two decades.