Ted Turner, Founder of CNN, Dies at 87

Ted Turner died at the age of 87. President Donald Trump paid tribute to Turner as one of the greats of broadcast history and a friend of mine. " Trump said. Current CNN CEO and chairman Mark Thompson described Turner as the giant on whose shoulders we stand.

Thompson said Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgement. He added that Turner was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN. Turner launched Cable News Network in 1980.

CNN was the first dedicated rolling news channel and was initially mocked as the Chicken Noodle Network. The network proved its value with coverage of the assassination attempt on US President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and the Challenger space shuttle disaster in 1986. It provided live rolling coverage from Iraq during the 1990-1991 Gulf War.

President George Bush said he learned more from CNN than he did from the CIA. CNN's success prompted competitors. Fox News was launched in 1996 by Rupert Murdoch. Turner's path to media began after his father took his own life.

He took over the successful family billboard company, bought a radio station in Atlanta, Georgia, and within a decade that station became the foundation of the Turner Broadcasting System. He based his company in Atlanta, not in LA or New York. Turner's television empire included the TBS and TNT channels, Turner Classic Movies and Cartoon Network.

He launched Turner Classic Movies and created the Goodwill Games in Moscow. Beyond news, Turner won the America's Cup in 1977. In 1983, a Murdoch-sponsored yacht collided with Turner's boat in an Australian race.

He owned the Atlanta Braves baseball team, the Atlanta Hawks basketball team and the Atlanta Thrashers ice hockey team. 5bn acquisition of the MGM film studios in 1985. He bought film and TV companies Castle Rock Entertainment and New Line Cinema in the 1990s.

Turner Broadcasting System merged with Time Warner. Turner donated $1bn to the United Nations. He was married to actress Jane Fonda from 1991 until 2001. In 2018, Turner revealed he had Lewy body dementia.

Christiane Amanpour said Ted Turner created an unstoppable media revolution for the benefit of all humankind. She added that working for Ted and his vision has been the proudest achievement of my lifetime. Piers Morgan described Turner as an incredible man who created CNN, won the World Series, and the America's Cup, was a bison rancher, huge philanthropist, and extraordinarily bold buccaneer.

Walter Isaacson called Turner the most fearless journalist I've ever seen. Claire Atkinson called him a swashbuckling founder of CNN. Mark Thompson was named head of CNN.