Turner, Ted
Identification American media mogul
Born November 19, 1938; Cincinnati, Ohio
In 1980, Turner founded the first major cable television
news network, CNN. His media empire eclipsed the three
broadcast television networks and established twenty-four-
hour news networks as a powerful factor in journalism.
Ted Turner grew up in Savannah, Georgia, and
proved to be an indifferent student who was fasci-
nated by visionary leaders. He took over his father’s
billboard business, then purchased a struggling At-
lanta television station in 1970, WJRJ, changing the
station’s call letters to WTCG. Turner became fasci-
nated with the potential of satellite broadcasts in the
1970’s, and in 1976, WTCG became one of the na-
tion’s first so-called superstations, that is, local sta-
tions that broadcast via satellite to more than one
market. As the broadcasts were picked up by cable
television providers across the country, the station
(which again changed its name, to WTBS, in 1979)
became a fixture on basic cable. It broadcast primar-
ily old movies, basketball, and baseball.
Interested in further exploiting the possibilities
of satellite broadcasts, Turner assembled a team to
launch the Cable News Network (CNN). The project
faced daunting hurdles, as start-up costs were steep,
and investors and advertisers were skeptical that
viewers would tune in. In 1979, the satellite Turner
had hired to eventually carry the network malfunc-
tioned, and it took a lawsuit to acquire another one.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
fought Turner’s application for a broadcasting li-
cense for CNN and relented less than ninety days be-
fore the network launch. Once CNN hit the air in
June, 1980, viewer share was only half of what Turner
had projected, and the network lost $30 million dur-
ing its first year.
CNN lacked a sound financial foundation, but it
filled a major void that had developed in American
broadcast journalism. For years, network newsrooms
had cut back on international coverage. Turner
and CNN covered world events at a fraction of the
cost the broadcast networks spent. The result was a
steadily growing viewership, although the quality in
the first years was decidedly uneven and earned
CNN the nickname “Chicken Noodle Network.” How-
ever, the network’s mix of news veterans and eager
neophytes created a powerful synergy that baffled
the legions of skeptics.
Turner was resolute in his support of the network
through its lean years. Salaries for journalists were
extremely low, but Turner reminded them that he
was risking his own fortune on the network. Turner
became a global gadfly and went to meet Fidel Cas-
tro in Cuba to try to convince him of the merits of ca-
ble news. Castro watched fascinated as CNN became
the only network to show footage of the search-and-
salvage operation at a Titan missile silo in Arkansas.
CNN also provided extended coverage of the trial of
the Gang of Four in China, an event that offered
valuable insights into the political situation in post-
Mao Zedong China. In its first ten years, the net-
work’s viewership grew from under two million to
sixty million.
Despite the impact of CNN, not all of Turner’s en-
deavors in the 1980’s proved successful. His first
Goodwill Games, an attempt to hurdle the political
issues that had crippled the Olympics, lost $26 mil-
lion. In 1987, his failed bid to purchase the Colum-
bia Broadcasting System (CBS) showed that his thirst990 Turner, Ted The Eighties in America
Ted Turner.(George Bennett)