Ted Turner dies at 87, CNN founder and media pioneer

newsMay 6, 20261183,329

Ted Turner died at 87; he founded CNN in 1980 and built Turner Broadcasting into TBS and Cartoon Network, launching the first 24-hour cable news channel. He acquired major film and animation libraries and launched Cartoon Network in 1992 to showcase those archives and expand cable programming. Turner pledged $1 billion in 1997 to create the United Nations Foundation and donated heavily to conservation and population causes through the Turner Foundation. His insistence on nonstop news and national cable reach fundamentally changed how audiences receive breaking news and how TV companies package programming.

Melissa Ryan

@melissaryan.bsky.social

I love every headline about Ted Turner that includes "Jane Fonda's ex-husband." As if that was one of his biggest accomplishments in life. (Which arguably it is. Dude convinced *the* Jane Fonda to marry him.)

10484h ago

sat88.bsky.social21

Hell, women are regularly described by who their spouse-partner is regardless of their of their own accomplishments. Nice to see it in reverse every now and then.

Carly11

Me too! Like Simone Biles' hubby, you know, what's-his-name.

Dave Waggy10

I mean as an accomplishment that has to be the top tier one!

Cast Adrift 🫘8

Dude was famous on his own. He just wasn’t as visible as he aged. And i doubt he was Trump’s pal. Turner gave billions to charity, including United Nations charities that helped other countries, putting him at odds with scum like Trump.

kenbreakingnews.bsky.social7

I'll always remember when they sat together at an Atlanta Braves game and Jane was so reluctant to do the tomahawk chomp.

CBTbiscuit6

I wonder if Trump really was friends or if hes just saying this since the guy is dead (hes done this before) Turner seems like he was like minded with Fonda on a lot (or used to be) and gave billions to charity. I mean who knows, but I doubt Trump on everything

Andrew Quinn🏳️‍🌈🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇵🇸🤘🏻😸5

I genuinely recognise her name but not his 🤷🏼‍♂️ and had to Google him. So he's probably supposed to be famous, but her name is what endures.

kat lazarus5

We all make mistakes. I try not to hold it against her for marrying him.

Grandma 4

TBH, he probably held that badge as the biggest highlight of his life.

Cynthia Fraase2

They include his name though. Lots of times it's just so-and-so's wife! 😡

kindnessmatters3.bsky.social2

Welllll, I don’t know, I’ve never gotten anything of great measure from Jane Fonda (not that I don’t like her), but Ted Turner has provided a lot of good black-and-white classic movie entertainment for me that I would’ve never otherwise seen.

Film Fluent2

Well, Ted did have a really big... wallet.

rob2

That's all he was to me ... the Janes Ex. End of.

Culture Crave 🍿

@culturecrave.co

Ted Turner, founder of CNN and Cartoon Network, has passed away at age 87

3132h ago

visoredavenger22

A millionaire who said "Hey we should probably stop destroying the Earth" and sadly no one listened.

a small victory12

The Billionaire that created Captain Planet!

Triston10

RIP Ted Turner because my classic childhood show Cartoon Network

Brebo 🍩3

“Founder of CNN and Cartoon Network” might be underselling him a tiny bit lol

Shawn3

Seemed to just take a thing and go, “fuck it, just do it 24 hours a day”. Next we’ll find out he was a founder of Waffle House.

Dee Phunk

@deephunk.bsky.social

RIP Ted Turner, a man who for sh*ts and giggles co-created a wrestling program to air on Monday nights specifically to f*ck w/ Vince McMahon and, in turn, became the highest rated show on primetime TV for a solid two years. A mainstay of my teen years.

2614h ago

Jason Parker4

And I never heard about him pooping on anyone

ericjanssen.bsky.social2

He also created Cable Music Channel, a rival to the MTV during its legendary heyday, which lasted one month. One MONTH. (For those who wondered how VH-1 ever came into existence…)

Allan

@allancheapshot.bsky.social

Ted Turner has died aged 87, and a wrestling obituary that begins with Nitro starts too late. Before WCW became his problem child, wrestling was one of the forms of programming that taught him what cable television could become. 🧵

884h ago

Jason Kirk

@jasonkirk.fyi

Me as a kid, being taught to dislike Ted Turner because he was an environmentalist lib: Obviously I agree the environment is bad, but how can I overlook his contributions toward bringing us the nWo

1204h ago

Warhammer Dan6

I only know that Earnest "The Cat" Williams was a three-time, three-time, three-time world karate champion because of Ted Turner and you cannot put a price on that kind of knowledge building

PBS News

@pbsnews.org

Ted Turner, a brash and outspoken television pioneer who raced yachts, owned huge chunks of the American West and transformed the news business by launching CNN in 1980, has died at age 87. https://to.pbs.org/3R5Cu7W

694h ago

Juniebee2

I thought he passed like ten years ago.

Lat4282

Giving Philosophy: Turner encouraged fellow billionaires to prioritize philanthropy over accumulation, directly influencing the creation of initiatives like the Giving Pledge.

Ben Schwartz

@benschwartz.bsky.social

In my March interview with Jane Fonda, she talked about warning her ex-husband, Ted Turner, to stay away from the big mergers that made him a billionaire and gave us the media mergers we have today. www.thenation.com/article/acti...

714h ago

Tim Williams Art

@timwilliamsart.bsky.social

RIP to the first boss I had when I graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta, Ted Turner. I was a 20 year old designing billboards for his company, Turner Advertising. He wasn't around much because he had left to start CNN. I know a few funny stories about him. One of a kind. #TedTurner

734h ago

✨ Kay Goodstadt ✍️ Author✨6

RIP to the industry innovator.😔 Impetus for Barry Diller to swoop in and snag CNN from the Ellison claws?

tomgfromnc.bsky.social5

Read a great book about Ted recently, Up All Night - Ted Turner, CNN, And The Birth Of 24-Hour News. The author is Lisa Napoli, who worked at CNN during the early years. I'll bet your stories are fascinating.

Missybristol2

Worked at MGM/UA in 1986 when he bought the studio then sold back parts to Kirk Kerkorian etc. Very interesting times to be working there during the *colorized* controversy 😄

Cha Cha Laroo. 🐴🐕🇨🇦🇺🇦2

Because of his attachment to the land and the critters.

Cha Cha Laroo. 🐴🐕🇨🇦🇺🇦2

Jane Fonda says, he's her favorite ex.....

Sybil Schwartzbach, LMT2

I was surprised when Jane Fonda, married him...not so surprised when she Divorced him.

Matt G. ♾️

@artistsince05.bsky.social

RIP Ted Turner. Cartoon Network and Turner Classic Films genuinely won’t be the same without your legacy.

483h ago

Timothy Burke

@bubbaprog.xyz

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL Republicans were calling Ted Turner a leftist shill from the beginning

"in your face" pacifists Ted Turner and "Hanoi Jane" Fonda hit the national scene. Their mantra was "make love - not war," and thus the sexual revolution took off. Future cowards were bred daily. Ted Turner created CNN worldwide cable news and flooded the world with his 24/7 socialist propaganda machine. Naturally, CNN painted Americans in an unsavory light, and still does so today.

623h ago

"Frankenstein" is the monster's name, Victor is MY name

@victorperfecto.bsky.social

Goodnight, Ted Turner, and may flight of angels sing thee to thy Rest.

394h ago

Trey O.

@gadeadhead.bsky.social

RIP Ted You changed television and the Atlanta Braves forever. Godspeed.

663h ago

Heidi MacDonald @ home

@comixace.bsky.social

Ted Turner invented CNN, The Cartoon Network, Turner Classic Movies, TBS, TNT...He's right after Walt Disney as the single media figure who has shaped our world the most. BTW, I don't blame him for the hellscape. He was trying to make the world smaller with CNN, other people figured out the algo.

404h ago