Billionaire Ted Turner, CNN Founder, Dies At 87
Turner founded CNN in 1980, which was the nation’s first 24-hour cable news network.
www.forbes.com
Ted Turner has passed at age 87
- Thread starter PrestonyteParrot
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www.forbes.com
Quite the visionary and certainly a pioneer when it came to cable tv in its infancy.
Almost single handedly kept an iconic american species from extinction - The Bison.
One could make a case that through his TBS network he made the Atlanta Braves a national label.
Almost single handedly kept an iconic american species from extinction - The Bison.
One could make a case that through his TBS network he made the Atlanta Braves a national label.
He had a great bite out of the apple. The superstation template was revolutionary and he started it. His sports coverage model, particularly with respect to the the Braves, was enjoyed by millions and blazed new trails in that area. TCM gave millions more of us the opportunity to see great movies that many of us would never have even known about.
On the minus side, the cable television "news" model he put into motion gave rise - unwittingly (I think) - to the unbridled, insufferable opinionated monstrosities we have today. There's only so much noteworthy actual news at any given time, and once that fact became evident to the 24-hour outlets, they augmented news with interminable, evermore polarizing expressions of opinion. In turn, these constant diatribes have given rise to some very deleterious effects on society.
On the minus side, the cable television "news" model he put into motion gave rise - unwittingly (I think) - to the unbridled, insufferable opinionated monstrosities we have today. There's only so much noteworthy actual news at any given time, and once that fact became evident to the 24-hour outlets, they augmented news with interminable, evermore polarizing expressions of opinion. In turn, these constant diatribes have given rise to some very deleterious effects on society.
Cable TV was not in its infancy when Turner came along. Cable TV got its start in the late 1940s in mountainous Pennsylvania, where TV reception was essentially non-existent in the valleys. Enterprising folk put antennae on mountaintops, ran cable into the valleys, and charged subscribers ~ $3.00 a month to receive the three TV stations then on the air in Philadelphia. Or stations in the Scranton-Wilkes Barre area a decade later when those stations signed on.
No HBO or the like. Just the basic broadcast stations.
I remember in the early 1980s when the-then CCTV (Columbia Cable TV) brought in independent station (now the Fox station) WTTG from Washington, DC via microwave.
As satellite transmissions became more available and affordable, Turner took advantage of the opportunity to distribute his independent WTCG (now WTBS) signal nationwide via satellite. THAT was the game changer.
Turner was definitely a pioneer, but not in cable tv's infancy.
TBS was the key for sure, especially for Braves baseball. That, and CNN or better known as ANN (Airport News Network).
I saw Ted many times when his family lived at Hope Plantation.Always the loudest person in the room.But he treated the people who worked for him very well.I admired his conservation ethic which is carried on by his son Beau,who lives in North Florida.
Cable TV as a package deal eventually ruined it for me. The packages became a thing with the introduction of "premium" channels like HBO and Skinemax. I think the cable service providers had reached the limits of what customers were willing to pay long before streaming services came into their own. Before streaming, those people either settled for OTA broadcast TV or became one of the edgy ones who boasted, "I don't own a television."
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Cancelled DTV months ago. They were charging me $176 PM and that was no frills, no movie stations, etc. but I only watched about 10 channels. Had been with them since '97 now just watch online.
Many of the channels would not survive an a la carte arrangement.
We have rooftop antennae at both our Beaufort and Atlanta homes. Beaufort being in the Savannah TV market, a good antenna is the only way to pick up all full-power TV stations from Charleston.
I don't think I implied that Turner was the father of cable television, only aspects of programming.
No - it wasn't you.
Initially, in the late 1940's, cable tv brought reception of broadcast stations to villages in the valleys in mountainous eastern Pennsylvania. And that's pretty much all that went on with cable tv throughout the country until the 1970's. Then you started seeing channels like HBO popping up. Commercial independent stations like WTTG Washington DC and WTCG in Atlanta began distributing their signals to cable systems in the southeast and mid-Atlantic via microwave relay. Turner putting WTCG on satellite for delivery to cable systems nationwide was brilliant.
My only correction to the op is that Turner's innovations of satellite delivery and CNN was not in the infancy of cable tv.
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My wife did contract IT work at Colleton County and Turner would frequent the offices and confirms that conservative ethic carried over to family as well. He often stated he chose to raise his kids away from Atlanta distractions, especially the learning to drive part.
