Media mogul and philanthropist Ted Turner, who founded CNN, passed away on Wednesday (local time) at the age of 87, the network announced.
In 1980, Turner, who is widely regarded as the pioneer of the 24-hour network that revolutionised television news, launched Network as the first dedicated rolling news channel, which soon became a central part of the media landscape.
The Ohio-born Atlanta businessman was also known as “The Mouth of the South” for his outspoken nature. He built a media empire that encompassed cable’s first superstation and popular channels for movies and cartoons, along with professional sports teams like the Atlanta Braves.
Here’s a look at the life of Ted Turner:
Early life
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What did Ted Turner found?⌵
Ted Turner founded CNN (Cable News Network) in 1980, which was the first dedicated rolling news channel. He also established Turner Broadcasting System, which grew into a media empire.
How did Ted Turner start his media career?⌵
Ted Turner began his media career at age 24 by taking over his father’s billboard company. He later bought a struggling Atlanta television station and then acquired rights to Atlanta Braves baseball games, eventually beaming the station’s signal via satellite to create the first superstation.
What was Ted Turner’s role in the development of 24-hour news?⌵
Ted Turner is widely regarded as the pioneer of the 24-hour news network. He launched CNN in 1980 with the vision of providing continuous news coverage, which revolutionized television news.
What were some of Ted Turner’s other ventures besides CNN?⌵
Beyond CNN, Ted Turner’s ventures included owning professional sports teams like the Atlanta Braves, acquiring the MGM film library, and becoming a significant philanthropist and environmentalist. He also founded the United Nations Foundation and worked to reintroduce bison to the American West.
What significant donation did Ted Turner make?⌵
Ted Turner made a significant philanthropic contribution by donating $1 billion to fund United Nations operations. He also supported environmental groups through his Turner Foundation.
Born as Robert Robert Edward Turner III in Cincinnati, , on 19 November 1938, he was sent to a boarding school at the age of four, shortly after his sister was born. He had a difficult relationship with his father, who had an inclination toward alcohol and disciplined his son with a leather strap or a wire coat hanger.
“It wasn’t dangerous or anything like that,” Turner once recalled. “It just hurt like the devil,” CNN quoted him as saying.
Turner’s faith was somewhat shaken after his family moved to Savannah, Georgia, where his sister Mary Jean contracted a rare form of lupus at the age of 12. “She was sick for five years before she passed away. And it just seemed so unfair, because she hadn’t done anything wrong,” Turner said. “What had she done wrong? And I couldn’t get any answers. Christianity couldn’t give me any answers to that. So my faith got shaken somewhat.”
He was sent to several strict Southern military schools. His father had hopes of him getting accepted to , but Turner attended another Ivy League School-Brown University. However, his father was unhappy and cut off his tuition because he disapproved of his major.
Career and achievements
Turner began his career when he was 24 years old and took over his father’s billboard company, Turner Outdoor Advertising, in the wake of the latter’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. Turner also tried to boost the ratings by airing old sitcoms and classic films.
However, he wasn’t interested in the news yet. He decided to invest in sports instead and acquired the rights to Atlanta Braves baseball games. 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.
During his lifetime, Turned donned many hats. Internationally, he was known as a yachtsman. He was also a philanthropist who founded the United Nations Foundation and an activist who sought the worldwide elimination of . Turner was also a conservationist who became one of the foremost landowners in the United States.
Additionally, he played a significant role in reintroducing bison to the American West. He also created the Captain Planet cartoon to educate kids about the environment.
The media maverick wanted to dramatically widen the aperture of television news, envisioning shows about business, health, sports, and other topics. He admitted he knew “diddley-squat” about the news business, but he recruited the right people who did, like Reese Schonfeld, CNN’s founding president. This came after he expressed criticism of broadcast TV and establishment news judgments.
Later, in the mid-1980s, Turner acquired MGM’s library of more than 4,000 old films and stoked a controversy in the film community for colorising many black-and-white movies, including “Casablanca.”
In 1991, he was named as Time magazine’s Man of the Year for “influencing the dynamic of events and turning viewers in 150 countries into instant witnesses of history.”
In 1996, he sold his networks to Time Warner for roughly $7.5 billion. He stayed on as a vice-chairman of Time Warner, heading up the company’s cable TV networks.
