CRN was first launched as Computer Retail Week on June 7, 1982 as a magazine targeted to computer resellers - the same year that UK channel publication MicroScope Magazine

Microscope magazine

MicroScope is a magazine for computer manufacturers, distributors and resellers within the ICT channel which was founded in 1982.In March 2011 owners Reed Business Information sold MicroScope and its sister title ComputerWeekly to TechTarget and the print edition ceased publication.At the last BPA...

 was launched. It soon after renamed itself Computer Reseller News when it became apparent that the majority of sales for the personal computer would be to businesses through a business to business sales channel rather than to consumers through a retail sales channel.

Originally launched and published by CMP Media of Manhasset, NY it was subsequently purchased by London based United Business Media

United Business Media

UBM plc is a magazine publisher, news distributor and events organiser providing business information services principally to the technology, healthcare, media, automotive and financial services industries...

 as part of the $920 million acquisition of CMP. Computer Reseller News later changed its name to the acronym CRN and is still published today in the USA and India by UBM and by franchise publishers in a number of other countries including Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, Holland, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, and the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. CRN was originally one of more than 20 publications that covered the IT indirect sales channel.

In 2009 CRN's US version was recognized as a leading advertising medium for the IT industry by B2B's Media Power 50 ranking, which called it the "unrivaled leader in covering the channel".

CRN's editorial staff is currently headed by Kelley Damore, editorial director.