“Hi, I’m Ted Turner, and this is Cable News Network. For the first time in history, you can see the news as it happens 24 hours a day.” Ted Turner was one of the most important pioneers of television in the history of the medium and the history of the country, and arguably, the history of the world. What Ted Turner realized was that there was an audience for news all day, all night, potentially around the world. Announcer: “Foreign bureaus in London, Bangkok.” And one of his biggest innovations was that the news was the star. “Never before has television news had the immediacy, the thoroughness that it does now.” The minute CNN switched on, everybody in the news business immediately knew this was a game changer. It was so raw and so real. “State of the art technology.” There’s a great New York Times review that ended with the line, because CNN wasn’t pretty to watch, that CNN was like a “dog walking on its hind legs.” It’s not graceful, but you’re amazed it can do it. “Works better when we wear this.” “I didn’t watch much television before I got in the television business — I really didn’t.” The other thing that Ted Turner should be remembered for is he was one of the first big celebrity C.E.O.s. Ted Turner — there was a mystique about him. He had his bison farm and western appeal and married to Jane Fonda. I mean, they were like a media sensation. And, of course, that fell apart in spectacular fashion. “My greatest regret in life, other than the failure of my marriages, was losing control of CNN.” CNN was really Ted Turner’s baby. So after the AOL-Time Warner merger, he was so distraught, so dejected. He felt suckered. And I remember that on CNN’s big 20th anniversary in Atlanta, Time Warner and AOL did not want reporters anywhere near him because they knew he was going to blow his stack. And literally a bunch of reporters — I was there — we chased him into a bathroom. He was running from us because he was under such strict orders to keep his mouth shut. But later it became clear he wasn’t going to have a say anymore. And that was like ripping his child out of his arms. I don’t think he expected to be shoved aside. “I would have liked to see that merger not happen because it was a very good company before AOL was put into it, then it was toxic.” CNN went on to become much more of a star venue and much more of a commercial property, and it became more about big personalities and the shows. And the news wasn’t the star, and it just wasn’t really Ted Turner CNN at all anymore. “You’ve been such a pioneer in television, any notions about where it’s going now, where it goes?” “There’s going to be more of it, more of it, and only the strong will survive. And those with deep pockets also.”
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