View source for Ted Turner

{{Short description|American media mogul (born 1938)}}
{{other people}}
{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2016}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Ted Turner
| image              = Ted Turner at the LBJ Foundation.jpg
| caption            = Turner in 2015
| birth_name         = Robert Edward Turner III
| birth_date         = {{birth date and age|1938|11|19}}
| birth_place        = [[Cincinnati]], Ohio, U.S.
| death_date         = 
| death_place        = 
| alma_mater         = [[Brown University]]
| occupation         = {{hlist|Entrepreneur|television producer|media proprietor|philanthropist}}
| known_for          = {{unbulleted list|Founder of [[Turner Network Television|TNT]], [[Turner Broadcasting System|TBS]], and [[CNN]]|Co-founder of the [[Nuclear Threat Initiative]]|Former [[Atlanta Hawks]] owner||Former [[Atlanta Braves]] owner||Former [[Atlanta Thrashers]] owner||Former [[World Championship Wrestling]] owner|Co-founder of [[Ted's Montana Grill]]|Founder of [[TV-6 (Russia)|TV-6]]|Co-creator of ''[[Captain Planet and the Planeteers]]''}}
| years_active       = 1960–present
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Julia Gale Nye|1960|1964|end=div}}
* {{marriage|Jane Shirley Smith|1965|1988|end=div}}
* {{marriage|[[Jane Fonda]]|1991|2001|end=div}}
}}
| children           = 5
| website            = {{official URL}}
| footnotes          = 
| signature          = File:Ted signature.svg
}}

'''Robert Edward Turner III''' (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, [[media proprietor]], and [[Philanthropy|philanthropist]]. He founded the [[CNN|Cable News Network]] (CNN), the first 24-hour [[United States cable news|cable news]] channel. In addition, he founded [[WPCH-TV|WTBS]], which pioneered the [[superstation]] concept in [[cable television]], as well as television networks [[TBS (American TV channel)|TBS]] and [[TNT (American TV network)|TNT]].

As a philanthropist, he gave $1 billion to create the [[United Nations Foundation]], a public charity to broaden U.S. support for the [[United Nations]]. Turner serves as [[Chairperson|Chairman]] of the United Nations Foundation [[board of directors]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://unfoundation.org/|title=United Nations Foundation &#124; Helping the UN build a better world.|website=Unfoundation.org|access-date=October 21, 2021}}</ref> Additionally, in 2001, Turner co-founded the [[Nuclear Threat Initiative]] with US senator [[Sam Nunn]] (D-GA). NTI is a non-partisan organization dedicated to reducing global reliance on, and preventing the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. He currently serves as co-chairman of the board of directors.

Turner's media empire began with his father's [[billboard]] business, Turner Outdoor Advertising, which he took over in March 1963 after his father's suicide.<ref name="bibb5556">{{cite book |author=Bibb |first=Porter |url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/155566203X |title=Ted Turner: It Ain't as Easy as It Looks: The Amazing Story of CNN |publisher=Virgin Books |year=1996 |isbn=0-86369-892-1 |pages=55–56}}</ref> It was worth $1 million. His purchase of an [[Atlanta]] [[Ultra high frequency|UHF]] station in 1970 began the [[Turner Broadcasting System]]. In 1980 he founded CNN, now one of the most prominent news networks in the world. Turner turned the [[Atlanta Braves]] baseball team into a nationally popular franchise (including winning the [[1995 World Series]] under his ownership), and launched the charitable [[Goodwill Games]]. He helped revive interest in [[professional wrestling]] by purchasing [[Jim Crockett Promotions]] which was then rebranded as [[World Championship Wrestling]] (WCW).

Turner's penchant for controversial statements earned him the nicknames "The Mouth of the South" and "Captain Outrageous".<ref>{{cite book |author=Bibb |first=Porter |url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/155566203X |title=Ted Turner: It Ain't As Easy as It Looks: The Amazing Story of CNN |publisher=Virgin Books |year=1996 |isbn=0-86369-892-1 |pages=138, 272, 283, 442}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1048325,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101029182734/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1048325,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 29, 2010 | title=Captain Outrageous Opens Fire | magazine=Time | first=Stephen | last=Koepp | date=April 12, 2005}}</ref> Turner has also devoted his assets to environmental causes. He was the largest private landowner in the United States until [[John C. Malone]] surpassed him in 2011.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/turner-becomes-largest-private-landowner-in-us-761711.html |title=Turner becomes largest private landowner in US – Americas, World |newspaper=The Independent |date=December 1, 2007 |access-date=March 29, 2009 |location=London |first=Leonard |last=Doyle |archive-date=May 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090517015046/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/turner-becomes-largest-private-landowner-in-us-761711.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/29/us/29land.html |title=For Land Barons, Acres by the Millions |work= [[The New York Times]] |date=January 28, 2011 |first=Katharine Q. |last=Seelye}}</ref> He uses much of his land for ranches to re-popularize [[bison]] meat (for his [[Ted's Montana Grill]] chain) and has amassed the largest herd in the world. He also created the environmental-themed animated series ''[[Captain Planet and the Planeteers]]''.<ref>{{cite news |author=Kahn |first=Eve M. |date=March 3, 1991 |title=Television; Cartoons for a Small Planet |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/03/arts/television-cartoons-for-a-small-planet.html |access-date=March 9, 2015 |newspaper=New York Times}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Turner was born on November 19, 1938, in [[Cincinnati]], Ohio,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Ted Turner |encyclopedia=Britannica Money |url=https://www.britannica.com/money/Ted-Turner |access-date=}}</ref> the son of Florence (née Rooney) and Robert Edward Turner II, a billboard [[magnate]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/19/Ted-Turner.html |title=Ted Turner Biography (1938–) |publisher=Film Reference |access-date=March 24, 2010}}</ref> When he was nine, his family moved to [[Savannah, Georgia]], and raised him as an [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopalian]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IaMPCgAAQBAJ&q=episcopal|isbn=9780313350436|title=Ted Turner: A Biography: A Biography|date=2009|publisher=Abc-Clio}}</ref> He attended [[The McCallie School]], a private boys' preparatory school in [[Chattanooga, Tennessee]].

Turner attended [[Brown University]] and was vice-president of the [[Brown Debating Union]] and captain of the sailing team. He became a member of [[Kappa Sigma]]. Turner initially majored in [[classics]]. His father wrote saying that this choice made him "appalled, even horrified", and that he "almost puked".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/07/this-is-my-son-he-speaks-greek.html|title=This is my son. He speaks Greek|publisher=Lettersofnote|date=July 25, 2012|access-date=July 26, 2012|archive-date=July 27, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120727162316/http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/07/this-is-my-son-he-speaks-greek.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Turner later changed his major to [[economics]], but before receiving a degree, he was [[expulsion (academia)|expelled]] for having a female student in his dormitory room.<ref>{{cite book| title=Ted Turner: It Ain't As Easy as It Looks: The Amazing Story of CNN| author=Porter Bibb| publisher=Virgin Books| year=1996| isbn=0-86369-892-1| url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/155566203X| pages=26–33}}</ref> Turner was awarded an honorary B.A. from Brown University in November 1989 when he returned to campus to give the keynote address for the [[National Association of College Broadcasters]] second annual conference.

Expelled from Brown just as tensions in [[Vietnam War|Vietnam]] were beginning to heat up, Turner joined the [[United States Coast Guard Reserve]] in order to fill his service obligation before he ended up getting [[Conscription in the United States#Cold War|drafted]]. Honored by the [[United States Navy Memorial]] with its [[Lone Sailor Award]] in 2013, Turner told ''The Washington Post'', "I liked boats", and ended up getting "deployed to some pretty sweet places&nbsp;– Charleston and Fort Lauderdale."<ref name="USCG">{{cite news |title=Ted Turner, swaggering billionaire humbled by 'Lone Sailor' prize for long-ago Coast Guard stint |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/reliable-source/wp/2013/09/19/ted-turner-billionaire-humbled-by-lone-sailor-prize-for-long-ago-coast-guard-stint/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=19 September 2013}}</ref>

== Business career ==
=== WTBS ===
After leaving Brown University, Turner returned to the South in late 1960 to become general manager of the [[Macon, Georgia]], branch of his father's business. Following his father's suicide in March 1963, Turner became president and chief executive of Turner Advertising Company when he was 24 and turned the firm into a global enterprise. He joined the [[Young Republicans]], saying he "felt at ease among these budding conservatives and was merely following in [his father]'s far-right footsteps", according to ''It Ain't as Easy as It Looks''.<ref name=bibb5556 />

During the [[Vietnam War]] era, Turner's business prospered; it had "virtual monopolies in Savannah, Macon, [[Columbus, Georgia|Columbus]], and [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]]" and was the "largest outdoor advertising company in the Southeast", according to ''It Ain't as Easy as It Looks''. The book observed that Turner "discovered his father had sheltered a substantial amount of taxable income over the years by personally lending it back to the company" and "discovered that the billboard business could be a gold mine, a tax-depreciable revenue stream that threw off enormous amounts of cash with almost no capital investment".<ref>{{cite book |last=Bibb |first=Porter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BaWaAAAAIAAJ&q=%22discovered+his+father%22 |title=It Ain't as Easy as it Looks: Ted Turner's Amazing Story |date=1993 |publisher=Crown Publishers |isbn=978-0-517-59322-6 |page=52}}</ref>

In the late 1960s Turner began buying several Southern radio stations.<ref>{{cite book |last=O'Connor |first=Michael |title=Ted Turner: A Biography |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2009 |chapter=5 |isbn=978-0-313-35043-6}}</ref> In 1969, he sold his radio stations to buy a struggling television station in Atlanta, [[Ultra high frequency|UHF]] Channel 17 [[WPCH-TV#As WJRJ-TV|WJRJ]] (now WPCH).<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Merger is proposed by Rice, Turner |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc. |date=July 14, 1969}}</ref> At the time, UHF stations did well only in markets without [[Very high frequency|VHF]] stations, like [[Fresno, California]], or in markets with only one station on VHF. Independent UHF stations were not ratings winners or that profitable even in larger markets, but Turner concluded that this would change as people wanted more than several choices. He changed the [[call sign]] to WTCG, erroneously claimed to have stood for "<u>W</u>atch <u>T</u>his <u>C</u>hannel <u>G</u>row" but in actuality stood for <u>T</u>urner <u>C</u>ommunications <u>G</u>roup.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=For the Record |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc. |date=April 13, 1970}}</ref> Initially, the station ran old movies from prior decades, along with theatrical cartoons and bygone sitcoms and drama programs. As a better syndicated product fell off the VHF stations, Turner would acquire it for his station at a very low price. WTCG ran mostly second- and even third-hand programming of the time, including fare such as ''[[Gilligan's Island]]'', ''[[I Love Lucy]]'', ''[[Star Trek]]'', ''[[Hazel (TV series)|Hazel]]'', and ''[[Bugs Bunny]]''. Other low-cost content included humorist [[Bill Tush]] reading the news at 3 a.m., prompting Turner to jokingly comment that, "we have a 100% share at this time". Tush once delivered the news with his "[[Anchorman|co-anchor]]" Rex, a [[German Shepherd]]. The dog (who belonged to an associate) was shown next to Tush on set, wearing a shirt and tie while eating a peanut butter sandwich. Rex appeared only on one episode, but a myth grew where many people thought the dog was a nightly guest.<ref name=Saporta>{{cite web |url=https://saportareport.com/bill-tushs-30-year-tv-career-began-the-lucky-moment-he-stopped-by-channel-17-for-a-job/archived-columnists/chris-schroder/adminmegan/ |title=Bill Tush's 30-year TV career began the lucky moment he stopped by Channel 17 for a job |date=May 21, 2012 |website=Saporta Report |publisher=saportareport.com |access-date=August 19, 2021}}</ref> By 1972, WTCG had acquired the rights to telecast [[Atlanta Braves]] and [[Atlanta Hawks]] games.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Program Briefs: Hawks roost beside Braves |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc. |date=October 16, 1972}}</ref> Turner would go on to purchase UHF Channel 36 [[WCNC-TV|WRET]] (now WCNC) in [[Charlotte, North Carolina]], and ran it with a format similar to WTCG.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

[[File:Ted Turner smoking a cigar.jpg|alt=refer to caption|thumb|upright|Turner {{circa|1976}}]]
In 1976, the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) allowed WTCG to use a satellite to transmit content to local cable television providers around the nation. On December 17, 1976, the rechristened WTCG-TV Super-Station began to broadcast old movies, [[situation comedy]] reruns, cartoons, and sports nationwide to cable-television subscribers.<ref>"Ted Turner." ''Encyclopedia of World Biography'', 2nd ed., vol. 15, Gale, 2004, pp. 355–357.</ref> As cable systems developed, many carried his station to free their schedules, which increased his viewers and advertising. The number of subscribers eventually reached 2 million and Turner's net worth rose to $100 million. He bought a {{convert|5000|acre|ha|adj=on}} plantation in Jacksonboro, South Carolina, for $2 million.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Endicott|first=Eve|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rFDTnLS_KCwC&q=ted+turner+5000+acre+plantation&pg=PA96|title=Land Conservation Through Public/Private Partnerships|date=1993|publisher=Island Press|isbn=978-1-61091-349-2|language=en}}</ref>

In 1976, Turner bought the Atlanta Braves, and in 1977, he bought the Atlanta Hawks, partially to provide programming for WTCG.<ref>{{cite news |date=January 7, 1976 |title=Yachtsman Turner Purchases Braves |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/01/07/archives/yachtsman-turner-purchases-braves-yachtsman-buys-braves-for-at.html |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nba.com/hawks/news/hawks-raise-banner-honor-turner|title=Hawks Raise Banner To Honor Turner|first=Micah|last=Hart|date=November 30, 2004|work=[[National Basketball Association|NBA.com]]|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref> Using the rechristened WTBS superstation's status to broadcast Braves games into nearly every home in North America, Turner turned the Braves into a household name even before their run of success in the 1990s and early 2000s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/309493-call-me-the-owner-why-the-braves-need-ted-turner-back|title=Call Me Owner: Why the Braves Need Ted Turner Back|first=Jordan|last=Bagbey|website=[[Bleacher Report]]|date=December 16, 2009|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref> At one point, he suggested to pitcher [[Andy Messersmith]], who wore number 17, that he change his surname to "Channel" to promote the television station.<ref>{{Cite news| url = http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080320&content_id=2446061&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl|title= Messersmith: The game's first free agent|author=Gary Caruso |work=[[MLB.com]] |date =March 20, 2008}}</ref>

In 1978, Turner struck a deal with a student-operated radio station at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]], [[WMBR|Technology Broadcasting System]] (now WMBR), to obtain the rights to the WTBS call sign for $50,000. Such a move allowed Turner to strengthen the branding of his "Super-Station" using the initials TBS. Turner Communications Group was renamed [[Turner Broadcasting System]] and WTCG was renamed [[WPCH-TV|WTBS]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2011/04/08/wmbr_fm_celebrates_50_years_on_the_air/|title=Tune in, turn on...|first=Jonathan|last=Perry|date=April 8, 2011|website=[[The Boston Globe]]|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref>

In 1986, Turner founded the [[Goodwill Games]] with the goal of easing tensions between capitalist and communist countries. Broadcasting the events of these games also provided his superstation the ability to provide Olympic-style sports programming.<ref>Burton, Paul. "Turner, Ted." ''Notable Sports Figures'', edited by Dana R. Barnes, vol. 4, Gale, 2004, pp. 1651–1653.</ref>

[[Turner Field]], first used for the [[1996 Summer Olympics]] as [[Centennial Olympic Stadium]] and then converted into a baseball-only facility for the Braves, was named after him.<ref>{{cite web | title=Centennial Olympic Stadium | access-date=September 11, 2024 | date=January 3, 2024 | url=https://olympics.com/ioc/news/centennial-olympic-stadium | work=olympics.com | quote=Renamed Turner Field – after Ted Turner, the founder of Cable News Network (CNN) whose global headquarters are in the city – the stadium has hosted Major League Baseball (MLB) for almost 20 years. }}</ref>

=== CNN ===
[[File:Ted Turner autographing, RIT NandE Vol13Num31 1981 Oct8 Complete.jpg|thumb|Turner in 1981]]
In 1978, Turner contacted media executive [[Reese Schonfeld]] about his plans to launch a 24-hour news channel (Schonfeld had previously approached Turner with the  proposition in 1977 but was rebuffed).<ref name=Barkin>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yIJ80AkyQdsC&q=kellner&pg=PA1|first=Steve M.|last=Barkin|title=American Television News: The Media Marketplace and the Public Interest: The Media Marketplace and the Public Interest|publisher=Taylor & Francis|date= 2016|isbn=9781315290911}}</ref> Schonfeld responded that it could be done with a staff of 300 if they used an all electronic newsroom and satellites for all transmissions.<ref name=Barkin /> It would require an initial investment of $15 million–$20 million and several million dollars per month to operate.<ref name=Barkin />

In 1979, Turner sold his North Carolina station, [[South Carolina Educational Television|WRET]], to fund the transaction and established its headquarters in lower-cost, non-union [[Atlanta]].<ref name=Barkin /> Schonfeld was appointed first president and chief executive of the then-named [[Cable News Network]] (CNN).<ref name=Barkin /> CNN hired Jim Kitchell, former general manager of news at [[NBC]] as vice president of production and operations; [[Sam Zelman]] as vice president of news and executive producer; [[Bill MacPhail]] as head of sports, Ted Kavanau as director of personnel, and [[Burt Reinhardt]] as vice president of the network.<ref name=Barkin /> In 1982, Schonfeld was succeeded as CEO by Turner after a dispute over Schonfeld's firing of [[Sandi Freeman]]; and was succeeded as president by CNN's executive vice president, [[Burt Reinhardt]].<ref name=wp>{{cite news |first=Lauren|last=Wiseman|title=Burt Reinhardt dies at 91: Newsman helped launch CNN |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/burt-reinhardt-dies-at-91-newsman-helped-launch-cnn/2011/04/14/AFMd9mkG_story.html |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |date=May 10, 2011 |access-date=May 19, 2011}}</ref>

==== Turner Doomsday Video ====
{{Main|Turner Doomsday Video}}
Turner famously stated before CNN debuted: "We won't be signing off until the world ends. We'll be on, and we will cover the end of the world, live, and that will be our last event... we'll play the National Anthem only one time, on the 1st of June [the network's debut on June 1, 1980], and when the end of the world comes, we'll play '[[Nearer, My God, to Thee]]' before we sign off." Reportedly, Turner plans to make good on that promise. He commissioned a video recording of a military marching band playing the hymn. Turner has sometimes played the tape for reporters, noting the reason he made it. In 2015, the video was found in CNN's database and leaked. The video was tagged in the database as "[Hold for release] till end of world confirmed".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/cnn-s-doomsday-video-leaks-to-the-internet-1798275220|title=CNN's doomsday video leaks to the Internet|website=News|date=January 5, 2015|language=en-us|access-date=February 15, 2020|archive-date=February 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215184548/https://news.avclub.com/cnn-s-doomsday-video-leaks-to-the-internet-1798275220|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Other ventures ===
{{Professional wrestling sidebar}}
In 1981, Turner Broadcasting System acquired [[Brut Productions]] from [[Faberge Inc.]]<ref>{{cite news|title=Faberge Sells Brut's Assets|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/01/business/faberge-sells-brut-s-assets.html|website=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 1982 |access-date=November 27, 2014}}</ref>

After a failed attempt to acquire [[CBS]], Turner purchased the film studio [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]]/[[United Artists|UA]] Entertainment Co. from [[Kirk Kerkorian]] in 1986 for $1.5 billion.<ref name=MGM>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/08/business/turner-acquiring-mgm-movie-empire.html|title=Turner Acquiring MGM Movie Empire |first=Geraldine|last=Fabrikant|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=August 8, 1985|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref> Following the acquisition, Turner had amassed enormous debt and sold parts of the acquisition; Kerkorian bought back MGM/UA Entertainment. The MGM/UA Studio lot in [[Culver City, California|Culver City]] was sold to [[Lorimar Productions|Lorimar]]/[[Telepictures]]. Turner kept MGM's pre-May 1986 and pre-merger film and television library.<ref name="ymrt">''You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story,'' (2008) p. 255.</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=[[Orlando Sentinel]]|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1986/08/27/turner-united-artists-close-deal/|title=Turner, United Artists Close Deal |publisher=[[United Press International]]|date=August 27, 1986|access-date=September 7, 2020|archive-date=September 21, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055612/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1986-08-27/business/0250090069_1_united-artists-turner-mgm|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Turner Entertainment]] was established in August 1986 to oversee film and television properties owned by Turner thanks to the deal with Kerkorian.

Having acquired MGM's library of 2,200 films that were made before 1986, Turner syndicated them to television stations across the country.<ref name=MGM /> When broadcasting some older films originally filmed in black-and-white, he aired [[Film colorization|colorized]] versions of them.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-10-23-ca-6941-story.html|title=Turner Defends Move to Colorize Films |first=John|last=Voland|date=October 23, 1986|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref> Opposition to Turner's colorization arose among cinephiles, film critics, actors, and directors. Film critic [[Roger Ebert]] wrote that broadcasting a colorized ''[[Casablanca (film)|Casablanca]]'' "will be one of the saddest days in the history of the movies. It is sad because it demonstrates that there is no movie that Turner will spare, no classic however great that is safe from the vulgarity of his computerized graffiti gangs."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/casablanca-gets-colorized-but-dont-play-it-again-ted|title='Casablanca' gets colorized, but don't play it again, Ted|first=Roger|last=Ebert|website=[[RogerEbert.com]]|date=October 30, 1988|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref> Due in part to Turner's colorization, the [[Library of Congress]] established the [[National Film Registry]] with the aim to preserve American films in their original formats.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/12/national-film-registry-spike-lee-claudia-weill|title=Spike Lee Gets His Fourth Film on the National Film Registry: 'Sometimes Dreams Come True'|first=Donald|last=Liebenson|website=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|date=December 11, 2019|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref>

In 1988, Turner purchased [[Jim Crockett Promotions]]. He renamed it [[World Championship Wrestling]] (WCW), which became the main competitor to [[Vince McMahon]]'s [[WWE|World Wrestling Federation]] (WWF). This rivalry became known as the [[Monday Night Wars|Monday Night War]], and would last throughout the 1990s. In 2001, under [[WarnerMedia#AOL Time Warner (2001–2003)|AOL Time Warner]], WCW was [[WWE#Start of the Attitude Era (1997–1999)|sold to the WWF]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/632761-wcw-how-it-died-and-how-wwe-and-vince-mcmahon-made-sure-it-never-rose-again|title=WCW: How It Died, and How WWE and Vince McMahon Made Sure It Never Rose Again|first=Joe|last=Burgett|website=[[Bleacher Report]]|date=March 11, 2011|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref>

Also in 1988, Turner introduced [[Turner Network Television]] (TNT) with ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]].'' TNT, initially showing older movies and television shows, added original programs and newer reruns. Turner would later create [[Turner Classic Movies]] (TCM) in 1994, airing Turner's pre-1986 MGM library of films alongside those of [[Warner Bros.]] made before 1950, though it has expanded its library since.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

In 1989, Turner created the [[Turner Tomorrow Fellowship Award|Turner Tomorrow Fellowship]] for fiction offering positive solutions to global problems. The winner, from 2500 entries worldwide, was [[Daniel Quinn]]'s ''[[Ishmael (Quinn novel)|Ishmael]].''

{{external media
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| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIyViBTPPJ8 Ted Turner: Captain Planet] – a 2019 documentary hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta highlighting the personal life, career, and the environmental work of Ted Turner (CNN Philippines, full episode)}}
In 1990, he created the Turner Foundation, which focuses on philanthropic grants concerning issues pertaining to the environment and overpopulation. In the same year he created [[Captain Planet]], an environmental [[superhero]]. Turner produced the television series ''[[Captain Planet and the Planeteers]]'' and its later sequel series with Captain Planet as the featured character.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/27/world/ted-turner-captain-planet-intl/index.html|title=Is Ted Turner the real Captain Planet?|first1=Mark|last1=Tutton|first2=Holly|last2=Brown|first3=Samantha|last3=Bresnahan|website=[[CNN]]|date=November 29, 2019|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref>

In 1992, the pre-May 1986 MGM library, which also included Warner Bros. properties including the early ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' and ''[[Merrie Melodies]]'' libraries and also the Fleischer Studios and Famous Studios ''Popeye'' cartoons from Paramount (and then United Artists), became the core of [[Cartoon Network]]. A year before, Turner's companies purchased [[Hanna-Barbera]] Productions (whose longtime parent, [[Taft Broadcasting|Taft/Great American Broadcasting]], had been headquartered in Turner's original hometown of Cincinnati), beating out several other bidders including [[MCA Inc.]] (whose subsidiaries included [[Universal Pictures]] and [[Universal Destinations & Experiences]]) and [[Hallmark Cards]]. With the 1996 Time Warner merger, the channel's archives gained the later Warner Bros. cartoon library as well as other Time Warner-owned cartoons.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

In 1993, Turner and Russian journalist Eduard Sagalajev founded the Moscow Independent Broadcasting Corporation (MIBC). This corporation operated the sixth frequency in Russian television and founded the Russian channel [[TV-6 (Russia)|TV-6]].<ref>{{cite web |author= |date=December 30, 1992 |title=Turner Channel for Moscow |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/30/business/turner-channel-for-moscow.html |access-date=September 7, 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |agency=[[Reuters]]}}</ref> The company was later purchased by Russian businessman [[Boris Berezovsky (businessman)|Boris Berezovsky]] and an unknown group of private persons. In 2007 the license for TV-6 had expired and there was no application for renewal.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

In 1993, Turner also considered acquiring [[Paramount Pictures]], but withdrew from this endeavor following a meeting with then-[[QVC]] head [[Barry Diller]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-24-fi-38529-story.html|title=Diller on Diller : QVC Chief Says He's Matured and Is Doing What He Has To|first=Kathryn|last=Harris|work=Los Angeles times|date=September 24, 1993|accessdate=June 20, 2025}}</ref>

=== Time Warner merger ===
[[File:2000 Ted Turner (29902987051).jpg|thumb|Turner speaking at an industry event in 2000]]
Turner Broadcasting System merged with Time Warner on October 10, 1996, with Turner as [[chair (official)|vice chairman]] and head of Time Warner and Turner's cable networks division.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1995/09/23/MN70161.DTL|last=Pelline|first=Jeff|date=September 23, 1995|title=Time Warner Closes Deal for Turner|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle}}</ref> Turner was dropped as head of cable networks by CEO [[Gerald Levin]] but remained as Vice Chairman of Time Warner. He would be succeeded in March 2001 as head of Turner Broadcasting by [[Jamie Kellner]], who was also greatly responsible for cancelling [[WCW]]'s television contracts on networks which Turner previously ran.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB983920915516944115|title=WB Network Chief Kellner Takes Over Turner Operations at AOL Time Warner|first1=Joe|last1=Flint|first2=Sally|last2=Beatty|publisher=Wall Street Journalism|date=March 7, 2001|accessdate=June 22, 2024}}</ref><ref name=tedturnersuccessor>{{Cite news |last=Schneider |first=Michael |date=2024-06-22 |title=Jamie Kellner, TV Maverick Who Launched Both Fox and The WB, Dies at 77 |url=https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/jamie-kellner-dies-dead-fox-the-wb-obituary-1236044943/ |access-date=2024-06-22 |work=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/former-head-turner-broadcasting-jamie-kellner-passes-away|title=Former Head of Turner Broadcasting Jamie Kellner Passes Away|first=Jeremy|last=Lambert|publisher=Fightful|date=June 22, 2024|accessdate=June 22, 2024}}</ref> He resigned as AOL Time Warner vice chairman in 2003 and then from the Time Warner board of directors in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jan-30-fi-turner30-story.html|title=Ted Turner to Resign AOL Post|first=Sallie|last=Hofmeister|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=January 30, 2003|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/25/business/ted-turner-leaving-time-warners-board.html|title=Ted Turner Leaving Time Warner's Board|author=[[Associated Press]]|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=February 25, 2006|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref>

On January 11, 2001, Time Warner was purchased by [[AOL|America Online]] (AOL) to become AOL Time Warner,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.cnet.com/2100-1023-250781.html |title=AOL, Time Warner complete merger with FCC blessing |work=CNET |first1=Patrick |last1=Ross |first2=Evan |last2=Hansen |date=January 11, 2001 |access-date=June 2, 2012}}</ref> a merger which Turner initially supported.<ref name=NewYorker2001>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/04/23/the-lost-tycoon |title=The Lost Tycoon |first=Ken |last=Auletta |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=April 23, 2001 |access-date=June 24, 2018}}</ref> However, the burst of the [[dot-com bubble]] hurt the growth and profitability of the AOL division, which in turn dragged down AOL Time Warner's performance and stock price. At a board meeting in fall 2001, Turner's outburst against AOL Time Warner CEO [[Gerald M. Levin|Gerald Levin]] eventually led to Levin's announced resignation effective in early 2002, being replaced by [[Richard Parsons (businessman)|Richard Parsons]].<ref name=NinaMunk>{{cite web |url=http://www.ninamunk.com/PowerFailure.php |title=Power Failure |first=Nina |last=Munk |work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |date=July 2002 |access-date=June 26, 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714183334/http://www.ninamunk.com/documents/PowerFailure.htm |archive-date=July 14, 2011 }}</ref> In contrast to Levin, who as CEO isolated Turner from important company matters, Parsons invited Turner back to provide strategic advice, although Turner never received an operational role that he sought.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/16/business/at-63-ted-turner-may-yet-roar-again.html|title=At 63, Ted Turner May Yet Roar Again|first1=Jim|last1=Rutenberg|first2=Alessandra|last2=Stanley|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=December 16, 2001|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref> Time Warner dropped "AOL" from its name in October 2003. In December 2009, AOL was spun off from the Time Warner conglomerate as a separate company.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Turner was Time Warner's biggest individual shareholder.<ref name=NinaMunk/> It is estimated he lost as much as $7 billion when the stock collapsed in the wake of the merger.<ref name=Turner2008>{{cite web |url=http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/mixed-media/2008/11/11/ted-turner-goes-to-town-on-time-warner |title=Ted Turner Goes to Town on Time Warner |first=Jeff |last=Bercovici |work=[[Conde Nast Portfolio]] |date=November 11, 2008 |access-date=June 23, 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081113003314/http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/mixed-media/2008/11/11/ted-turner-goes-to-town-on-time-warner |archive-date=November 13, 2008}}</ref> When asked about buying back his former assets, he replied that he "can't afford them now".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/24/AR2006022401888.html |title=Turner To Leave Time Warner |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=February 25, 2006 |access-date=March 24, 2010 |first=Steven |last=Levingston}}</ref> In June 2014, [[Rupert Murdoch]]'s [[21st Century Fox]] made a bid for Time Warner valuing it at $80 billion. The Time Warner board rejected the offer and it was formally withdrawn on August 5, 2014.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Frizell |first=Sam |date=August 5, 2014 |title=21st Century Fox Withdraws Time Warner Takeover Bid |url=https://time.com/3083321/21st-century-fox-time-warner/ |access-date=February 25, 2024 |magazine=Time}}</ref>

=== Rivalry with Murdoch ===
Turner had a long-running feud with fellow cable magnate Rupert Murdoch for years. This originated in 1983 when a Murdoch-sponsored yacht collided with the yacht skippered by Turner, ''[[Condor (yacht)|Condor]]'', during the [[Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race]], causing it to run aground {{convert|6.2|mi|km}} from the finish line. At the post-race dinner, a drunken Turner verbally assaulted Murdoch, afterward challenging him to a televised fistfight in [[Las Vegas]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2009/12/murdochs_rivalries.html |title=Rupert Murdoch and the Art of War |author=Daily Intelligencer |work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |date=December 23, 2009 |access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref>

Murdoch's [[Fox News]], established in 1996, became a rival to Turner's CNN, a channel that Murdoch regarded with disdain for its "liberal slant" in news coverage. Time Warner declined to carry it on their New York City cable network in response, who in the midst of a merger, Turner said would "squash Rupert Murdoch like a bug."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/05/nyregion/cable-news-feud-has-personal-and-political-roots.html |title=Cable News Feud Has Personal and Political Roots |first=Mark |last=Landler |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 5, 1996 |access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref>

In 2003, Turner challenged Murdoch to another fistfight, and later on accused Murdoch of being a "warmonger" for his support and backing of President [[George W. Bush]]'s [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invasion of Iraq]].<ref name="turnermurdoch">{{cite news |title=Turner: Murdoch is a 'warmonger' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/apr/25/newscorporation.pressandpublishing |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=April 23, 2003 |access-date=March 12, 2011 |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/09/ted-turner-wants-rupert-murdoch-step-down/337730/|title=Ted Turner Still Happy to Spar with Rupert Murdoch |first=Adam Clark |last=Estes |work=[[The Atlantic]] |date=September 20, 2011 |access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref>

However, revealing in an interview with ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' in 2019, Turner said he and Murdoch have since made amends.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2019/tv/features/ted-turner-interview-cnn-mgm-1203183345/|title=Ted Turner: The Maverick Mogul Reflects on His Legacy, Big Deals and Old Feuds|first=Cynthia|last=Littleton|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=April 9, 2019|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref>

=== Atlanta Braves ===
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Ted Turner
|image=
|team=Atlanta Braves
|number=27
|position=[[Manager (baseball)|Manager]]
|birth_date={{birth date and age|1938|11|19}}
|birth_place= [[Cincinnati, Ohio]], U.S.
|bats=
|throws=
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=May 11
|debutyear=1977
|debutteam=Atlanta Braves
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=May 11
|finalyear=1977
|finalteam=Atlanta Braves
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=Games
|stat1value=1
|stat2label=Win–loss record
|stat2value=0–1
|stat3label=Winning %
|stat3value=.000
|teams=
*[[Atlanta Braves]] ({{mlby|1977}})
| awards      =
}}
For most of his first decade as owner of the Braves, Turner was a very hands-on owner. This peaked in 1977, his second year as owner.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Turner was suspended for one year by [[Commissioner of Baseball]] [[Bowie Kuhn]] on January 3, 1977, for his actions while pursuing the signing of free agent outfielder [[Gary Matthews]] from the [[San Francisco Giants]].  Matthews signed a five-year, $1.875 million contract with the Braves on November 18, 1976.  Kuhn's actions stemmed from remarks made by Turner to then-Giants owner [[Bob Lurie]] during the [[1976 World Series]].  In addition, the Braves were also stripped of their first-round selections in the June 1978 draft of high school and college players.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/01/03/archives/kuhn-suspends-turner-braves-owner-for-year-in-matthews-case-turner.html |last=Chass |first=Murray |title=Kuhn Suspends Turner, Braves' Owner, for Year in Matthews Case |work=The New York Times |date=January 3, 1977}}</ref>  Turner, however, successfully appealed the suspension and Kuhn relented and reinstated the draft selections, one of which would turn out to be [[Bob Horner]] from [[Arizona State University]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.80sbaseball.com/tag/gary-matthews/ |title=Horner vs. Turner |website=80sbaseball.com |access-date=September 1, 2021 }}</ref>

On May 11, 1977, with the team mired in a 16-game losing streak, Turner sent manager [[Dave Bristol]] on a 10-day "scouting trip" and Turner himself took over as interim manager – the first owner/manager in the majors since [[Connie Mack]]. He ran the team for one game (a loss to the [[Pittsburgh Pirates]])<ref>{{cite web|title=Ted Turner Managerial Record|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/turnete99.shtml|website=Baseball Reference|access-date=May 17, 2019}}</ref> before [[National League (baseball)|National League]] president [[Chub Feeney]] ordered him to stop running the team. Feeney cited major league rules which bar managers and players from owning stock in their clubs. Turner appealed to [[Commissioner of Baseball]] [[Bowie Kuhn]], and showed up to manage the Braves when they returned home. However, Kuhn turned down the appeal, citing Turner's "lack of familiarity with game operations."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Hannon |first=Kent |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1092438/index.htm |title=Benched from the Bench |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615165546/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1092438/index.htm |archive-date=June 15, 2013 |magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]] |date=May 23, 1977}}</ref>

In the mid-1980s Turner began leaving day-to-day operations to the baseball operations staff, and the team (still under Turner's ownership) won the [[1995 World Series]].

The Atlanta Braves were sold by Time Warner (which had assumed control after the merger with Turner Broadcasting System) to Liberty Media in 2007.<ref>{{cite web|title=Braves sale is approved|url=http://m.mlb.com/news/article/1968024/|website=Major League Baseball|access-date=June 12, 2017|archive-date=August 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818173225/http://m.mlb.com/news/article/1968024//|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Awards and honors ==
[[File:1995 World Series trophy.JPG|right|thumb|175px|The [[Commissioner's Trophy (MLB)|Commissioner's Trophy]] given to the Atlanta Braves – owned at the time by Turner – for winning the [[1995 World Series]] (shown on display at [[Turner Field]] – named for Turner – the Braves' home ballpark)]]
'''[[Emmy Award]]s'''
* Lifetime Achievement – Sports (2014)
* Lifetime Achievement – News & Documentary (2015)

'''Sports'''
* 1995: [[World Series]] champion (as owner of the [[Atlanta Braves]])
* 1996: [[Atlanta Braves]] home ballpark (1996–2016) named [[Turner Field]]
* 2004: Commemorative banner at [[State Farm Arena]] honoring his tenure as owner of the [[Atlanta Hawks]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://stadiumjourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Retired-Numbers.jpg|title=Atlanta Hawks retired numbers|website=Stadiumjourney.com|access-date=October 21, 2021|archive-date=October 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016120953/http://stadiumjourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Retired-Numbers.jpg|url-status=dead}}</ref>

'''Media'''
* 1984: Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]]<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=Achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=  https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#business}}</ref>
* 1989: [[Paul White (journalist)|Paul White]] Award, [[Radio Television Digital News Association]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rtdna.org/content/paul_white_award#.U4FBHS8-Ngc |title=Paul White Award |publisher=[[Radio Television Digital News Association]] |access-date=May 27, 2014 |archive-date=February 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130225052416/http://rtdna.org/content/paul_white_award#.U4FBHS8-Ngc |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 1990: [[Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Arizona State University|title=Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication|url=https://cronkite.asu.edu/about/walter-cronkite-and-asu/walter-cronkite-award|access-date=November 23, 2016|archive-date=March 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190320212556/https://cronkite.asu.edu/about/walter-cronkite-and-asu/walter-cronkite-award|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 1991: ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine's [[Time Person of the Year|Man of the Year]]. 
* 1997: [[Peabody Award]] winner
* 1999: [[Edison Awards|Edison Achievement Award]] for his commitment to innovation throughout his career
* 2000: [[Edward R. Murrow Award (Washington State University)|Edward R. Murrow Award for Lifetime Achievement in Communication]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://murrow.wsu.edu/symposium/the-edward-r-murrow-achievement-award/ |title=The Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award {{!}} Murrow Symposium Site {{!}} Washington State University |language=en-US |access-date=May 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503214620/https://murrow.wsu.edu/symposium/the-edward-r-murrow-achievement-award/ |archive-date=May 3, 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

'''Halls of Fame'''
* 1991: [[Television Hall of Fame]] inductee
* 2004: Star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]]

'''Organizational'''
* 1991: Audubon medal from the [[National Audubon Society]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.audubon.org/audubon-medal-0 |title=Previous Audubon Medal Awardees |work=Audubon |date=January 9, 2015}}</ref>
* 2001: [[Albert Schweitzer Gold Medal for Humanitarianism]]
* 2010: Georgia Trustee, an honor given by the [[Georgia Historical Society]], in conjunction with the Governor of Georgia<ref>{{cite web |url=https://georgiahistory.com/about-ghs/the-georgia-trustees/ |title=The Georgia Trustees: Previous Inductees |work=Georgia Historical Society |date=March 24, 2014 }}</ref>
* 2013: [[Lone Sailor Award]], which recognizes Navy, Marine and Coast Guard veterans who have distinguished themselves in their civilian careers (Turner is a Coast Guard veteran).<ref>{{cite web|title=Lone Sailor Award Recipients|url=http://www.navymemorial.org/lone-sailor-award-recipients|publisher=[[United States Navy Memorial|navymemorial.org]]|access-date=July 2, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016214216/http://www.navymemorial.org/lone-sailor-award-recipients|archive-date=October 16, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Politics ==
[[File:The Chairman, UN Foundation, Mr. Ted Turner calling on the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, in New Delhi on December 16, 2005 (1).jpg|thumb|Ted Turner calling on the Prime Minister of India, [[Manmohan Singh|Dr. Manmohan Singh]], in New Delhi, 2005]]
[[File:Secretary Kerry Greets Environmental Activist Ted Turner Before Addressing a UN Foundation-Hosted Breakfast Meeting Focused on the Ocean in Paris (22977278124).jpg|thumb|Turner and U.S. Secretary of State [[John Kerry]] in December 2015]]
On September 19, 2006, in a Reuters Newsmaker conference, Turner said of Iran's nuclear position: "They're a sovereign state. We have 28,000. Why can't they have 10? We don't say anything about Israel{{nsmdns}}they've got 100 of them approximately{{nsmdns}}or India or Pakistan or Russia."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ajc.com/news/local/ted-turner-adopt-china-one-child-policy-save-planet/y7rKRuXh7LrLUc5aMrA95N/|title=Ted Turner: Adopt China's one-child policy to save planet|last=Boone|first=Christian|date=December 8, 2010|work=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|access-date=March 11, 2019}}</ref>

A proponent of [[America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009|healthcare reform bills]], Turner has said: "We’re the only first-world country that doesn't have [[universal healthcare]] and it's a disgrace."<ref name="creativeleadershipsummit.org">"[http://www.creativeleadershipsummit.org/?q=node/788/ Working Lunch 1: In Conversation with Ted Turner] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202025536/http://www.creativeleadershipsummit.org/?q=node%2F788%2F |date=February 2, 2016 }}." Global Creative Leadership Summit, September 2009.</ref>

In 2010, during the wake of both the devastating [[Environmental impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill|Deepwater Horizon environmental disaster]] and the [[Upper Big Branch Mine disaster]] that killed 29 miners in [[West Virginia]], Turner stated on CNN that "I'm just wondering if God is telling us he doesn't want to drill offshore. And right before that, we had that coal mine disaster in West Virginia where we lost 29 miners&nbsp;... Maybe the Lord's tired of having the mountains of West Virginia, the tops knocked off of them so they may get more coal. I think maybe we ought to just leave the coal in the ground and go with solar and wind power and geothermals&nbsp;..."<ref>"Stupid Quotes." In ''The Limbaugh Letter.'' July 2010. p. 11.</ref>

Turner endorsed Democratic candidate [[Hillary Clinton]] in the run-up for the 2016 U.S. presidential election.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/33358570/ted-turner-endorses-hillary-clinton-for-president|title=Ted Turner endorses Hillary Clinton for President|publisher=Fox Carolina|date=October 10, 2016|access-date=January 18, 2019|archive-date=December 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171209091526/http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/33358570/ted-turner-endorses-hillary-clinton-for-president|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2018 he revealed he had once considered a run for president when he was married to [[Jane Fonda]], who told him she would leave him if he did.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/f7b33517be064bb3aa50b47305a93e79/CNN-founder-Turner-says-network-is-too-heavy-on-politics|title=CNN founder Turner says network is too heavy on politics|author=[[Associated Press]]|publisher=AP News|date=September 28, 2018|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref>

===Curbing population growth===

Along with advocating for clean water and improved stewardship of the land, Turner established the Turner Foundation to address ways to curb population growth.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tedturner.com/foundations/turner-foundation/#:~:text=The%20Turner%20Foundation%20(TFI)%2C,to%20curb%20population%20growth%20rates |title=Turner Foundation |publisher=Turner Enterprises Inc. |access-date=September 1, 2021 }}</ref> Turner has put $125 million of his own money into the foundation and has set aside $6 million per year to address population growth rates. Addressing the issue at a Montana gathering in 1996 he said "I'm not talking about getting rid of anybody here, I've got 5 children myself." He went on to discuss hunger and poverty and ways to address those issues.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/ted-turner-talks-of-overpopulation/article_1043f1be-541e-52eb-8b99-3dadccf02628.html#:~:text=Turner%20said%20he%20also%20put,to%20two%20billion%20or%20less |title=Ted Turner talks of overpopulation |work=Bozeman Daily Chronicle |date=September 18, 1996 |access-date=September 1, 2021 }}</ref>

In 2009 Turner met with other business moguls to include [[Oprah Winfrey]], [[Bill Gates]], [[George Soros]] and [[David Rockefeller]] to address issues ranging from the environment to healthcare. The group also addressed population growth with discussion of vaccines and immunization efforts being criticized due to the perception that decision making and public policy could be directed by a handful of elites. Although no formal statement was released, the event was covered by Paul Harris for ''[[The Guardian]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/may/31/new-york-billionaire-philanthropists |title=They're called the Good Club – and they want to save the world |work=The Guardian |last=Harris |first=Paul |date=May 31, 2009 |access-date=September 1, 2021 }}</ref>

== Controversial comments ==
[[File:Ted Turner with ex-wife Jane Fonda 1992.jpg|thumb|right|With wife [[Jane Fonda]] in 1992]]
Turner once called observers of [[Ash Wednesday]] "[[Jesus freak]]s", though he apologized,<ref name=Timeschristians>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/19/business/mediatalk-aol-sees-a-different-side-of-time-warner.html |work=[[The New York Times]]|title=MediaTalk; AOL Sees a Different Side of Time Warner |author=Jim Rutenberg|date=March 19, 2001}}</ref> and dubbed opponents of [[abortion]] "[[Bozo the Clown|bozos]]".<ref name=Timeschristians />

In 1999, Turner made a joke about [[Polish joke|Polish mine detector]]s when asked about [[Pope John Paul II]]. After a harsh response from the Polish deputy foreign minister [[Radek Sikorski]], Turner apologized.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/282851.stm|title=BBC News – Europe – Heard the one about Ted Turner ...|work=bbc.co.uk|access-date=April 12, 2016}}</ref>

In 2002, Turner accused [[Israel]] of terror: "The [[Palestinians]] are fighting with human [[Suicide attack|suicide bombers]], that's all they have. The Israelis ... they've got one of the most powerful military machines in the world. The Palestinians have nothing. So who are the terrorists? I would make a case that both sides are involved in terrorism." He apologized for that and the remarks in 2011 about the [[Hijackers in the September 11 attacks|9/11 hijackers]], but also defended himself: "Look, I'm a very good thinker, but I sometimes grab the wrong word ... I mean, I don't type my speeches, then sit up there and read them off the teleprompter, you know. I wing it."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/jun/18/terrorismandthemedia.israel| title=CNN chief accuses Israel of terror| date=June 18, 2002| first1=Oliver |last1=Burkeman |first2=Peter |last2=Beaumont |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=August 31, 2016}}</ref>

Also in 2008, Turner asserted on [[PBS]]'s ''[[Charlie Rose (talk show)|Charlie Rose]]'' that if steps are not taken to address [[global warming]], most people would die and "the rest of us will be [[Human cannibalism|cannibals]]". Turner also said in the interview that he advocated Americans having no more than two children. In 2010, he stated that China's [[one-child policy]] should be implemented.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.ajc.com/news/local/ted-turner-adopt-china-one-child-policy-save-planet/y7rKRuXh7LrLUc5aMrA95N/| title=Ted Turner: Adopt China's one-child policy to save planet| date=December 8, 2010| first=Christian |last=Boone| work=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |access-date=September 26, 2014}}</ref>

==Turner Enterprises==
[[File:Luckie St. Solar Panels.jpg|thumb|Turner Building Solar Array]]
'''Turner Enterprises, Inc.''' (TEI) is a private American company that was founded in 1976 and manages the business interests, land holdings and investments of Ted Turner,<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.tedturner.com/about/|title=About – Turner Enterprises|website=Tedturner.com|access-date=2020-01-28}}</ref> including the oversight of Turner's 24 properties across the United States and Argentina. At two million acres of personal and ranch land, Turner is the second-largest landowner in North America.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.tedturner.com/turner-ranches/turner-ranches-faq/|title=Turner Ranches FAQ – Turner Enterprises|website=Tedturner.com|access-date=2020-01-28}}</ref> He owned 19 ranches – 16 in the western U.S. and three in Argentina.<ref name="auto1"/> In January 2016, the [[Osage Nation]] bought Turner's 43,000 acre (170&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) Bluestem Ranch in [[Osage County, Oklahoma]]. Turner had purchased the property in 2001 primarily to raise bison.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Through Turner Enterprises, he owns ranches in [[Colorado]],  [[Kansas]], [[Montana]], [[Nebraska]], [[New Mexico]], [[Oklahoma]], and [[South Dakota]].<ref name="tturner">{{cite web|author=Tribune staff|year=2009|title=125 Montana Newsmakers: Ted Turner|url=http://www.greatfallstribune.com/multimedia/125newsmakers5/turner.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711123901/http://www.greatfallstribune.com/multimedia/125newsmakers5/turner.html|archive-date=July 11, 2011|access-date=August 28, 2011|work=Great Falls Tribune}}</ref><ref name="enterprises1">{{cite web|title=Ranches|url=http://www.tedturner.com/enterprises/ranches_Template.asp?page=ranches_faq.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430103340/http://www.tedturner.com/enterprises/ranches_Template.asp?page=ranches_faq.html|archive-date=April 30, 2009|access-date=March 29, 2009|publisher=Ted Turner}}</ref> Totaling {{convert|1910585|acre|km2}}, his land-holdings across America make Turner one of the largest individual landowners in North America (by acreage).<ref name="enterprises1" /> According to the Flatwater Free Press, a Nebraska non-profit newspaper, Turner is the largest owner of Nebraska farmland.<ref> {{cite web |last=Mejia |first=Evelyn |date=2023-12-08 |title=Ted Turner, longtime Nebraska land baron, still buying as next chapter nears |url=https://flatwaterfreepress.org/ted-turner-longtime-nebraska-land-baron-still-buying-as-next-chapter-nears/ |publisher=Flatwater Free Press |access-date=2025-10-01}}</ref>

TEI ranches are primarily used for bison ranching. His bison herd, approximately 51,000 animals on 15 ranches, is the largest private herd in the world.<ref name="auto1" /> The company's mission statement is "To manage Turner lands in an economically sustainable and ecologically sensitive manner while promoting the conservation of native species."<ref name="auto1" /> Other important wildlife species on the property include whitetail deer, wild turkey and bobwhite quail.<ref name="Morgan">{{cite news|last=Morgan|first=Rhett|date=February 3, 2016|title=Osage Nation set to buy Ted Turner-owned Bluestem Ranch in Osage County|website=Tulsa World|url=http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/state/osage-nation-set-to-buy-ted-turner-owned-bluestem-ranch/article_6be16608-a1e3-502e-a9c7-c77218db023e.html|access-date=April 7, 2017}}</ref> In addition to bison ranching, TEI ranches are also used for commercial fishing and hunting, as well as limited sustainable timber harvesting, as well as eco-tourism on the New Mexico ranches.<ref name="auto1"/> His biggest ranch is [[Vermejo Reserve]] in New Mexico. At {{convert|920|sqmi|km2}}, it is the largest privately owned, contiguous tract of land in the [[United States]].<ref>{{cite web|date=April 14, 2006|title=State, Vermejo Park Ranch Enter Into Agreement Regarding Abandoned Mine Reclamation|url=http://www.allbusiness.com/government/3639644-1.html|publisher=allbusiness}} {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

TEI works closely with Turner's philanthropic and charitable interests, including the founding and ongoing operations of the [[United Nations Foundation]], [[Nuclear Threat Initiative]], Turner Foundation,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.turnerfoundation.org/|title=Turner Foundation|website=Turnerfoundation.org|access-date=October 21, 2021|archive-date=August 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200817180322/http://www.turnerfoundation.org/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Captain Planet Foundation,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://captainplanetfoundation.org/|title=Captain Planet Foundation – Engaging & empowering young people to be problem solvers for the planet|website=Captainplanetfoundation.org|access-date=October 21, 2021}}</ref> and the Turner Endangered Species Fund.<ref name="auto"/> Turner Enterprises is headquartered in the Turner Building (formerly the [[Bona Allen Office Building]]) in [[Atlanta|Atlanta, Georgia]], also home to the [[Ted's Montana Grill]] restaurant chain, Ted Turner Reserves<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tedturnerreserves.com/|title=Ted Turner Reserves – Luxury Eco-Tourism|website=Tedturnerreserves.com|access-date=October 21, 2021}}</ref>  and Turner Renewable Energy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tedturner.com/turner-renewable-energy/|title=Turner Renewable Energy – Turner Enterprises|website=Tedturner.com|access-date=October 21, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tedturner.com/about/bona-allen-building/|title=Turner Building – Turner Enterprises|website=Tedturner.com|access-date=January 28, 2020}}</ref> In 2011, Ted Turner and TEI completed construction of a 25-panel solar array in the company's parking lot, which provides solar power to the Turner Building and its businesses<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tedturner.com/turner-renewable-energy/|title=Turner Renewable Energy – Turner Enterprises|website=Tedturner.com|access-date=January 28, 2020}}</ref>

Chaired by Turner, TEI's executive leadership also includes CEO & President S. Taylor Glover.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tedturner.com/about/company-officers/|title=Executive Leadership – Turner Enterprises|website=Tedturner.com|access-date=January 28, 2020}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
[[File:Ted Turner and Jane Fonda.jpg|thumb|Turner and his third wife, [[Jane Fonda]], in Washington, D.C., 2002]]
Turner has been married and divorced three times: to Judy Nye (1960–1964), Jane Shirley Smith (1965–1988), and actress [[Jane Fonda]] (1991–2001). He has five children.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2008/04/01/1/a-conversation-with-ted-turner|title=A Conversation With Ted Turner|date=April 1, 2008 |access-date=April 6, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080405183340/http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2008/04/01/1/a-conversation-with-ted-turner|archive-date=April 5, 2008}}</ref> In a television interview with [[Piers Morgan]] on May 3, 2012, Turner said he had four girlfriends, which he acknowledged was complicated but nonetheless easier than being married.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_bn1#/video/us/2012/05/04/piers-turner-four-girlfriends.cnn | work=CNN | title=CNN.com Video |date=May 4, 2012 |access-date=October 31, 2008}}</ref> One of Turner's children, Robert Edward "Teddy" Turner IV, announced on January 23, 2013, that he intended to run in the [[South Carolina]] [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] primary for the open Congressional seat vacated by [[Tim Scott]] who was appointed to the [[United States Senate|US Senate]].<ref>Smith, Bruce. [http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ted-turners-son-vying-sc-congressional-primary Ted Turner's son vying in SC congressional primary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203015631/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ted-turners-son-vying-sc-congressional-primary |date=December 3, 2013 }}, Associated Press, January 23, 2013.</ref> Turner's son came in 4th, receiving 7.90% of the vote.<ref name="GOP Primary Results">{{cite web |url=http://www.enr-scvotes.org/SC/45550/115634/en/summary.html |title=SC District 01 – Special R Primary |publisher=SC Elections |access-date=October 26, 2017}}</ref>

In 2010, Turner joined [[Warren Buffett]]'s and [[Bill Gates]]'s [[The Giving Pledge]], vowing to donate the majority of his fortune to charity upon his death.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ted Turner's Giving Pledge |url=http://cms.givingpledge.org/Content/uploads/634159149577957850_Turner_063010.pdf |date=June 30, 2010 |publisher=The Giving Pledge |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523023437/http://cms.givingpledge.org/Content/uploads/634159149577957850_Turner_063010.pdf |archive-date=May 23, 2012 }}</ref>

In the 1993 biography ''It Ain't As Easy as It Looks'' by Porter Bibb, Turner discussed his use of [[lithium (medication)|lithium]] and struggles with mental illness. The 1981 biography ''Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way'' by [[Christian Williams]] chronicles the founding of CNN.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=The Sure Thing: How entrepreneurs really succeed|url= http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/01/18/the-sure-thing |magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=May 10, 2016}}</ref> In 2008, Turner wrote ''[[Call Me Ted]],'' which documents his career and personal life.<ref>{{cite news |first=Phil |last=Kloer |title="Call Me Ted" – what else do you call him? |work=Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=10 November 2008 |access-date=12 November 2008 |url=http://www.accessatlanta.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/accessatlanta/atlarts/entries/2008/11/10/ted_turners_autobiography_hits.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100101064946/http://www.accessatlanta.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/accessatlanta/atlarts/entries/2008/11/10/ted_turners_autobiography_hits.html |archive-date=2010-01-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In an interview on ''[[CBS News Sunday Morning|CBS Sunday Morning]]'' in 2018, Turner revealed his diagnosis of [[Dementia with Lewy bodies|Lewy body dementia]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Ted Turner reveals he's battling Lewy body dementia in exclusive interview |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ted-turner-reveals-hes-battling-lewy-body-dementia-in-exclusive-interview/ |access-date=September 29, 2018 |work=CBS News |date=September 28, 2018}}</ref>

== Sailing ==
{{Infobox sailor
| name           = Ted Turner
| classes        =
| club           = {{yachtclub|Savannah Yacht Club}}
| collegeteam    = {{collegesailingteam|Brown University}}
| coach          = 
| medaltemplates = 
{{MedalSport | [[Sailing (sport)|Sailing]] }}
{{MedalCountry | {{USA}} }}
{{Medal|Competition|World Championships}}
{{Medal|Gold|1971 Seawanhaka|[[5.5 Metre World Championships|5.5m]]}}
{{Medal|Silver|1970 Sydney|[[5.5 Metre World Championships|5.5m]]}}
{{Medal|Silver|1972 Geneva|[[5.5 Metre World Championships|5.5m]]}}
{{Medal|Silver|1976 Hankø|[[5.5 Metre World Championships|5.5m]]}}
}}
When Turner was 26, he entered sailing competitions at the [[Savannah Yacht Club]] and competed in Olympic trials in 1964.<ref>{{cite book |last= Haupert|first=Michael John |title=The Entertainment Industry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p3tI2cAxj3gC&q=ted+turner+Olympic+trials+in+1964&pg=PA253 |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]] |page=253 |isbn=978-1-59884-594-5 |access-date=June 3, 2014 |year=2006 }}</ref> He first attempted to win the [[America's Cup]] in [[1974 America's Cup|1974]], losing in the defender's trials, aboard [[12 Metre]] class yacht US–25 ''Mariner''.<ref name=NBCSN-AC-Courageous>{{cite episode |network= NBC |work= NBC Sports Network |series= 2017 America's Cup |title= Courageous |airdate= June 17, 2017 }}</ref>  Turner was defeated by [[Ted Hood]] aboard US–26 ''[[Courageous (yacht)|Courageous]]''.

Turner was asked to join the [[1977 America's Cup]] defense syndicate formed by Hood and Lee Loomis for the [[New York Yacht Club]]. That group still owned the ''Courageous'' but decided to design and construct a new 12 Metre - US–28 ''Independence'' - to defend the 1974 America's Cup victory.  However, in the trials, with Turner as [[Sea captain#Skipper|skipper]] aboard the 3-year-old ''Courageous'' proved to be the faster than Hood and ''Independence'' <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/06/19/archives/us-yachts-begin-americas-cup-trials.html |title=U.S. Yachts Begin America's Cup Trials |last=Wallace |first=William |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 19, 1977 |access-date=October 1, 2017}}</ref> and was selected to race in the 1977 races.

From 13 to 18 September 1977 ''[[Courageous (yacht)|Courageous]]'', with Turner in command, defeated the challenger ''[[Australia (yacht)|Australia]]'', skippered by [[Noel Robins]], in a four-race sweep.<ref name="robins">{{cite web|url=http://32nd.americascup.com/en/acclopaedia/circlinggalaxy/profil.php?idContent=4528&idRubr=73 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707101033/http://32nd.americascup.com/en/acclopaedia/circlinggalaxy/profil.php?idContent=4528&idRubr=73 |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 July 2012 |title=Noel Robins |publisher=ACCyclopedia |accessdate=30 January 2012 }}</ref> ''Courageous''<nowiki>'</nowiki> greatest winning margin out of all four races was 2 minutes and 23 seconds.<ref name="robins"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://32nd.americascup.com/en/acclopaedia/circlinggalaxy/bateau.php?idContent=4891|title=Courageous – US 26|publisher=americascup.com|access-date=April 27, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100222021838/http://32nd.americascup.com/en/acclopaedia/circlinggalaxy/bateau.php?idContent=4891&idRubr=74|archive-date=February 22, 2010}}</ref> 

In the [[1979 Fastnet Race]], in a storm that killed 15 participants, he skippered the [[Sparkman & Stephens|S&S]]-designed<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.sailingworld.com/racing/ted-turner/ |title=Ted Turner, Captain Outrageous |date=April 24, 2002 |magazine=[[Sailing World]]}}</ref> 61-footer ''Tenacious'' to a corrected-time victory.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rousmainiere|first=John|title=Fastnet, Force 10|year=1980|publisher=Norton|location=New York|isbn=0-393-03256-6|url=https://archive.org/details/fastnetforce1000rous}}</ref>

Turner appeared on the cover of ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' on July 4, 1977,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/featured/8544/index.htm |title=Ted Turner on Sports Illustrated cover |date=July 4, 1977 |access-date=April 27, 2011 |work=CNN |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515120708/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/featured/8544/index.htm |archive-date=May 15, 2011 }}</ref> after winning 1977 America's Cup.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/sports/year_in_sports/09.18.html|title=A Brash Captain Keeps the Cup|date=September 18, 1977|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>
Turner was inducted into the [[America's Cup Hall of Fame]] in 1993,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.herreshoff.org/achof/ted_turner.html |title=Herreshoff Marine Museum & America's Cup Hall of Fame |publisher=Herreshoff.org |access-date=October 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120416032023/http://www.herreshoff.org/achof/ted_turner.html |archive-date=April 16, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the [[National Sailing Hall of Fame]] in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nshof.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=322:turner-ted-2011-inductee&catid=78 |title=Turner, Ted – 2011 Inductee |publisher=Nshof.org |access-date=October 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131210004343/http://www.nshof.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=322:turner-ted-2011-inductee&catid=78 |archive-date=December 10, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Ted Turner.jpg|thumb|Turner in 1999]]
[[File:LBJ Foundation DIG13755-4096 (18716136865).jpg|thumb|The LBJ Foundation honors entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner with the 2015 Lady Bird Johnson Environmental Award at the [[Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum|LBJ Presidential Library]]]]

Turner has been regarded as one of the entrepreneurs who transformed the cable industry and being referred to as "the [[Alexander the Great]] of broadcasting" by [[Slate (magazine)|Slate magazine]]:<ref name="slate.com">{{cite journal |url=https://slate.com/technology/2010/11/ted-turner-the-alexander-the-great-of-television.html|title=Ted Turner, the Alexander the Great of Television|journal=Slate |date=November 10, 2010|access-date=February 21, 2021 |last1=Wu |first1=Tim }}</ref>

<blockquote>While Turner has been described as a "valiant liberator" and cast the networks as oppressive scoundrels, in content his programming fell short of inspiring. His network was built on sitcom reruns, old movies, cartoons, and Atlanta Braves games. He found an audience for classics of a bygone time, along with slightly down-market content like professional wrestling. Nonetheless, he would find glorious terms even for retreads and junk, claiming to be pulling America back to television's golden age: "I want to get it back to the principles" he once said, "that made us good." Nostalgic, Manichean, and boot-strappy: like programmer, like programming<ref name="slate.com"/></blockquote>

<blockquote>The cable industry boomed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as nearly a dozen cable networks launched based on the Turner model. They include much of what we now consider the staples of cable TV, including [[ESPN]], [[MTV]], [[Bravo (American TV network)|Bravo]], [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]], [[BET]], the [[Discovery Channel]], and the [[The Weather Channel|Weather Channel]]. Those are the better-known channels only by virtue of having survived; others, such as ARTS, CBS Cable, and the Satellite News Channel, folded or were acquired by other companies<ref name="slate.com"/></blockquote>

Bob Hope, who is co-owner and president of Hope-Beckham, an independent agency based in Atlanta that previously worked for Turner in his networks, has described that "Ted Turner was special. His vision and his determination and his unwillingness to quit were infectious. He was willing to start small and had the persistence and patience to make his ideas grow".<ref name="bizjournals.com">{{cite web |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2019/03/06/viewpoint-lets-never-forget-the-legacy-of-ted.html|title=Viewpoint: Let's never forget the legacy of Ted Turner|date=March 6, 2019|access-date=February 21, 2021}}</ref> Hope also further reiterated that "In some ways, he was outrageous, but in most ways he was remarkable. He had great passion for doing what was right for the world. He stated his dream of using communication to bring peace, to tell both sides of any story, that 'one man's terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.' If he could get people to understand each other, there would be no wars. His vision was bold and infectious. His Goodwill Games, his creation of the [[UN Foundation]], and his approach to news on the original CNN were passions for peace".<ref name="bizjournals.com"/>

Professional wrestling promoter and former Senior Vice President of [[World Championship Wrestling|WCW]] second in charge after Turner, [[Eric Bischoff]] praised Turner claiming "He was an inspirational leader, he was a risk taker, he appreciated people who took risks, he was not afraid of failure while most people are. Ted was not afraid to fail, he was more afraid of not trying and not conquering that next horizon.”<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2020/09/eric-bischoff-recalls-vince-mcmahon-letters-trying-to-674695/ |title=Eric Bischoff Recalls Vince McMahon's Letters 'Trying to Embarrass' Ted Turner|date=September 12, 2020|access-date=February 25, 2021}}</ref>

On June 24, 1999, [[Vince McMahon]] stated on ''[[Late Night with Conan O'Brien]]'': "All I'll say about Ted is he's a son-of-a-bitch, other than that, he's probably not a bad guy, but I don't like him at all".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nypost.com/1999/06/28/mats-entertainment-wrestling-foes-mcmahon-hogan-square-off-in-talk-show-tussle/ |title=MATS ENTERTAINMENT! WRESTLING FOES MCMAHON, HOGAN SQUARE OFF IN TALK-SHOW TUSSLE |date=June 28, 1999|access-date=August 26, 2021}}</ref> Later in 2021, when asked about the upstart [[All Elite Wrestling|AEW]] in comparison to Turner's WCW, McMahon dismissed AEW, stating that "it certainly is not a situation where 'rising tides' because that was when Ted Turner was coming after us with all of Time Warner's assets as well".<ref name="r134">{{Cite web |last=Thakur |first=Sanjay |date=2021-07-30 |title=Vince McMahon Says He Does Not See AEW As The Same Level Of Competition As WCW |url=https://prowrestlingnewshub.com/aew-news/vince-mcmahon-says-he-does-not-see-aew-as-the-same-level-of-competition-as-wcw/ |access-date=2024-11-28 |website=Pro Wrestling News Hub}}</ref>

[[File:Johnny Isakson Ted Turner and Todd Groce.jpg|thumb|right|alt=In 2010, the Georgia Historical Society and the Office of the Governor of Georgia inducted Ted Turner as a Georgia Trustee. Turner is pictured here at the induction ceremony in Savannah with U.S. senator Johnny Isakson (left) and Georgia Historical Society president Todd Groce (right). |In 2010, the Georgia Historical Society and the Office of the Governor of Georgia inducted Ted Turner as a Georgia Trustee. Turner is pictured here at the induction ceremony in Savannah with U.S. senator Johnny Isakson (left) and Georgia Historical Society president Todd Groce (right). ]]
In 2010 Turner was named a Georgia Trustee, an honor given by the [[Georgia Historical Society]], in conjunction with the Governor of Georgia, to individuals whose accomplishments and community service reflect the ideals of the founding body of Trustees, which governed the [[Georgia colony]] from 1732 to 1752.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* ''Call Me Ted'' by Ted Turner and Bill Burke (Grand Central Publishing, 2008) {{ISBN|978-0-446-58189-9}}
* ''Racing Edge'' by Ted Turner (Simon & Schuster, 1979) {{ISBN|0-671-24419-1}}

=== Biographies ===
{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?183551-1/media-man-ted-turners-improbable-empire Presentation by Auletta on ''Media Man'', November 4, 2004], [[C-SPAN]]}}
* ''Media Man: Ted Turner's Improbable Empire'' by [[Ken Auletta]] (W. W. Norton, 2004) {{ISBN|0-393-05168-4}}
* ''Clash of the Titans: How the Unbridled Ambition of Ted Turner and Rupert Murdoch Has Created Global Empires that Control What We Read and Watch Each Day'' by Richard Hack (New Millennium Press, 2003) {{ISBN|1-893224-60-0}}
* ''Me and Ted Against the World: The Unauthorized Story of the Founding of CNN'' by Reese Schonfeld (HarperBusiness, 2001) 0060197463
* ''Ted Turner Speaks: Insights from the World's Greatest Maverick'' by Janet Lowe (Wiley, 1999) {{ISBN|0-471-34563-6}}
* ''Riding A White Horse: Ted Turner's Goodwill Games and Other Crusades'' by Althea Carlson (Episcopal Press, 1998) {{ISBN|0-9663743-0-4}}
* {{cite book| title=Ted Turner: It Ain't As Easy as It Looks: The Amazing Story of CNN| author=Porter Bibb| publisher=Virgin Books| year=1996| isbn=0-86369-892-1| url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/155566203X/ref=sib_dp_pt/002-4443697-6472033#reader-link}}
* ''Citizen Turner: The Wild Rise of an American Tycoon'' by Robert Goldberg and [[Gerald Jay Goldberg]] ([[Harcourt (publisher)|Harcourt]], 1995) {{ISBN|0-15-118008-3}}
* ''CNN: The Inside Story: How a Band of Mavericks Changed the Face of Television News'' by Hank Whittemore (Little Brown & Co, 1990) {{ISBN|0-316-93761-4}}
* ''Lead Follow or Get Out of the Way: The Story of Ted Turner'' by Christian Williams ([[Times Books]], 1981) {{ISBN|0-8129-1004-4}}
* ''Atlanta Rising: The Invention of an International City 1946–1996'' by Frederick Allen (Longstreet Press, 1996) {{ISBN|1-56352-296-9}}

== External links ==
{{sister project links|auto=1}}
* {{Official website}}
* [https://achievement.org/achiever/ted-turner/#interview Robert Edward “Ted” Turner Biography and Interview on American Academy of Achievement]
* {{New York Times topic}}
* {{C-SPAN}}
* {{IMDb name}}
* {{The Interviews name}}
* [http://www.oprah.com/own-master-class/Oprahs-Master-Class-Ted-Turner Turner on Oprah Master Class, aired January 29, 2012] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901110137/http://www.oprah.com/own-master-class/Oprahs-Master-Class-Ted-Turner |date=September 1, 2013 }}
* {{Baseball-reference manager|turnete99}}
* {{World Sailing|id=USART56|www=robert-turner-iii|name=Robert Turner III}}
* {{professional wrestling profiles}}

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{{EmmyAward GovernorsAward}}
{{Sports Lifetime Achievement Award}}
{{Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television}}
{{TCA Career Achievement Award}}
{{1991 Television Hall of Fame}}
{{Time Persons of the Year 1976–2000}}
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{{Portal bar|Baseball|Biography|Business and economics|Film|Georgia (U.S. state)|Sports|Television|United States}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Ted}}
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:1974 America's Cup sailors]]
[[Category:1977 America's Cup sailors]]
[[Category:21st-century American philanthropists]]
[[Category:5.5 Metre class sailors]]
[[Category:Activists from Ohio]]
[[Category:American advertising executives]]
[[Category:American cable television company founders]]
[[Category:American chief executives in the mass media industry]]
[[Category:American conservationists]]
[[Category:20th-century American landowners]]
[[Category:American male sailors (sport)]]
[[Category:American businesspeople in the real estate industry]]
[[Category:American television show creators]]
[[Category:Atlanta Braves managers]]
[[Category:Atlanta Braves owners]]
[[Category:Atlanta Hawks owners]]
[[Category:Atlanta Thrashers owners]]
[[Category:Benjamin Franklin Medal (Franklin Institute) laureates]]
[[Category:Brown Bears sailors]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Cincinnati]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Savannah, Georgia]]
[[Category:CNN executives]]
[[Category:Georgia (U.S. state) Democrats]]
[[Category:International Emmy Directorate Award]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball team presidents]]
[[Category:Mass media people from Cincinnati]]
[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executives]]
[[Category:Peabody Award winners]]
[[Category:Philanthropists from Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Philanthropists from Ohio]]
[[Category:Professional wrestling promoters]]
[[Category:Time Person of the Year]]
[[Category:United Nations Foundation]]
[[Category:United States Coast Guard enlisted]]
[[Category:United States Coast Guard reservists]]
[[Category:5.5 Metre class world champions]]
[[Category:World champions in sailing for the United States]]
[[Category:World Championship Wrestling executives]]
[[Category:People with Lewy body dementia]]