Ted Turner, the media pioneer and outspoken businessman who reshaped global television news with the launch of CNN in 1980, has died aged 87.
CNN reported Turner died Wednesday, citing a statement from Turner Enterprises.
Known for his bold personality, risqué business style and above-the-radar public image, Turner helped change the way audiences consumed news by creating the world’s first 24-hour television news network.
The man who changed news forever
Turner’s defining achievement was the launch of CNN at a time when most Americans relied on the regular evening broadcasts of traditional television networks.
Critics initially scoffed at the concept of round-the-clock news, with some dismissing CNN as a “chicken noodle network”.
However, Turner believed that viewers should not wait for fixed broadcast schedules to learn about world events.
Reflecting on CNN’s early years, Turner said in a 2016 Academy of Achievement interview with CNN, “I had to hit hard and move incredibly fast, and that’s what we did.”
He added: “The (broadcast) networks wouldn’t have had time to react because they should have done it, not me. But they had no imagination.”
CNN’s influence expanded dramatically during the 1991 Gulf War, when its live coverage from Baghdad brought real-time war coverage into homes around the world.
While many journalists left Iraq in fear of imminent US strikes, CNN crews remained on the ground, broadcasting dramatic footage of anti-aircraft fire and explosions as the conflict began.
This moment cemented CNN’s reputation as a global news powerhouse.
From billboard business to media empire
Born in 1938, Turner turned his late father’s billboard advertising business into a sprawling media conglomerate.
By the mid-1990s, his Turner Broadcasting System controlled several cable networks, sports franchises and movie studios.
In 1996, Turner sold Turner Broadcasting to Time Warner for a landmark $7.3 billion deal.
Although he was promised a continued role at CNN after the merger, Turner later said he regretted losing control of the company.
“I made a mistake,” Turner later admitted.
“The mistake I made was losing control of the company.
Open personality
Turner became famous almost as much for his blunt remarks and lavish lifestyle as for his business success.
Nicknamed “Captain Outrageous” and “The Mouth of the South”, he was known for his provocative statements, aggressive ambition and self-confidence.
He once joked, “If I had just a little humility, I’d be perfect.”
In addition to media, Turner also owned professional sports teams in Atlanta, defended the America’s Cup in sailing in 1977, and amassed more than two million acres of land throughout the American West.
His ranches eventually became home to the largest private bison herd in the United States.
Philanthropy and later years
Turner devoted much of his later life to philanthropy and environmental causes.
One of his most notable acts was a donation of US$1 billion to charities associated with the United Nations, one of the largest charitable commitments ever made at the time.
In later years, Turner struggled with Lewy body dementia, which slowed his public appearances and business involvement.
The media landscape after Turner
Turner’s influence on television news remained enormous even as the industry evolved.
The same year that Turner sold CNN, Fox News was launched under media mogul Rupert Murdoch, ushering in a more opinion-driven era of cable news.
As the networks increasingly leaned toward political commentary and ideological agendas, CNN continued to try to position itself as a global, straight news organization, although the audience for traditional television news continued to fragment in the digital era.
Yet Turner’s central idea – that news can be accessed anytime, anywhere – fundamentally changed global journalism and laid the foundation for the modern 24-hour news cycle.
