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Ted Turner, the billionaire media mogul who founded CNN, TNT, and TBS, has died at the age of 87.His death was announced Wednesday in a news release by his company, Turner Enterprises. “Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgment,” Mark Thompson, chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, said in a statement. “He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN. Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and we will all take a moment today to recognize him and his impact on our lives and the world.”The Ohio-born Atlanta businessman, nicknamed “The Mouth of the South” for his outspoken nature, built a media empire that encompassed cable’s first superstation and popular channels for movies and cartoons, plus professional sports teams like the Atlanta Braves. Turner began his media career at the age of 24 when he took over his father’s billboard company, Turner Outdoor Advertising, in the wake of the elder Turner’s suicide. He buried his shock and grief in work – but Turner wasn’t content to push other people’s products forever.He bought up radio stations, then branched into television in 1970 by acquiring a struggling station in Atlanta known as Channel 17. He tried to boost the ratings by airing old sitcoms and classic films, at one point even hosting “Academy Award Theatre” himself.Turner wasn’t interested in news yet. He decided to invest in sports instead, acquiring the rights to Atlanta Braves baseball games. Viewers and advertisers flocked to the channel, and as Turner turned a profit, he started to think bigger about TV.In 1976 he beamed Channel 17’s signal up to a satellite and it became cable TV’s first superstation, reaching cable subscribers across the country.Turner bought the Braves, and then the Atlanta Hawks basketball team, partly to keep the long-term rights to the TV programming, and partly because it was just plain fun.As he built the Superstation WTBS, he set his sights even higher – a 24-hour news channel.Turner was harshly critical of broadcast TV and establishment news judgments. “Part of the reason America had so many problems, he believed, was because his fellow Americans were so ill-informed,” former CNN journalist Lisa Napoli wrote in “Up All Night,” a book about the creation of CNN. Turner recognized “there was no better place to promote a variety of opinions than on almighty television. With a news channel, he could quite possibly help save the world.”A lot of people thought Turner’s idea was crazy. But he saw a huge opening in the marketplace.“I worked until 7 o’clock, and when I got home the news was over,” he once said, referencing the 6:30 evening newscasts on the big networks. “So I missed television news completely. And I figured there were lots of people like me.”Turner wanted to dramatically widen the aperture of television news, envisioning shows about business, health, sports and other subject matter. He admitted he knew “diddly-squat” about the news business, but he recruited the right people who did, like Reese Schonfeld, CNN’s founding president.Turner eventually sold his networks to Time Warner and later exited the business.Turner is survived by his five children, 14 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.CNN contributed to this report.
Ted Turner, the billionaire media mogul who founded CNN, TNT, and TBS, has died at the age of 87.
His death was announced Wednesday in a news release by his company, Turner Enterprises.
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“Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgment,” Mark Thompson, chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, said in a statement. “He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN. Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and we will all take a moment today to recognize him and his impact on our lives and the world.”
The Ohio-born Atlanta businessman, nicknamed “The Mouth of the South” for his outspoken nature, built a media empire that encompassed cable’s first superstation and popular channels for movies and cartoons, plus professional sports teams like the Atlanta Braves.
Turner began his media career at the age of 24 when he took over his father’s billboard company, Turner Outdoor Advertising, in the wake of the elder Turner’s suicide. He buried his shock and grief in work – but Turner wasn’t content to push other people’s products forever.
He bought up radio stations, then branched into television in 1970 by acquiring a struggling station in Atlanta known as Channel 17. He tried to boost the ratings by airing old sitcoms and classic films, at one point even hosting “Academy Award Theatre” himself.
Turner wasn’t interested in news yet. He decided to invest in sports instead, acquiring the rights to Atlanta Braves baseball games. Viewers and advertisers flocked to the channel, and as Turner turned a profit, he started to think bigger about TV.
In 1976 he beamed Channel 17’s signal up to a satellite and it became cable TV’s first superstation, reaching cable subscribers across the country.
Turner bought the Braves, and then the Atlanta Hawks basketball team, partly to keep the long-term rights to the TV programming, and partly because it was just plain fun.
As he built the Superstation WTBS, he set his sights even higher – a 24-hour news channel.
Turner was harshly critical of broadcast TV and establishment news judgments. “Part of the reason America had so many problems, he believed, was because his fellow Americans were so ill-informed,” former CNN journalist Lisa Napoli wrote in “Up All Night,” a book about the creation of CNN. Turner recognized “there was no better place to promote a variety of opinions than on almighty television. With a news channel, he could quite possibly help save the world.”
A lot of people thought Turner’s idea was crazy. But he saw a huge opening in the marketplace.
“I worked until 7 o’clock, and when I got home the news was over,” he once said, referencing the 6:30 evening newscasts on the big networks. “So I missed television news completely. And I figured there were lots of people like me.”
Turner wanted to dramatically widen the aperture of television news, envisioning shows about business, health, sports and other subject matter. He admitted he knew “diddly-squat” about the news business, but he recruited the right people who did, like Reese Schonfeld, CNN’s founding president.
Turner eventually sold his networks to Time Warner and later exited the business.
Turner is survived by his five children, 14 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
CNN contributed to this report.
