Ted Turner, the founder of CNN and Turner Broadcasting System and a larger-than-life entrepreneur who had an outsized and enduring impact on the development of TV industry, has died at 87.

No cause of death was given by his family and Turner Enterprises, which announced his death May 6. In 2018, Turner disclosed that he suffered from Lewy body dementia, a progressive brain disorder.

Turner is best known for founding CNN, the first 24-hour news network, which would dramatically upend the news business by providing viewers with around-the-clock access to news, creating a continuous 24-hour news cycle.

Turner, however, was also a pioneer in a host of other initiatives that would have a profound impact on the media landscape. After his father committed suicide and Turner inherited a nearly bankrupt billboard-advertising business in 1963. He moved into TV with his 1970 purchase of a struggling Atlanta UHF TV station. He later bought the Atlanta Braves as a way to boost the station’s ratings.

In 1976, he put that station, WTCG, up on satellite, creating the pioneering cable Superstation WTBS, which later became the cable network TBS.

That launch helped the financially struggling cable industry, which had mostly retransmitted broadcast stations in its early years, greatly expand its appeal in the late 1970s and 1980s by offering a large bouquet of original programming. His programming of Atlanta Braves baseball games on WTBS was also an early example of the shift of sports rights from broadcast to cable.

'Chicken Noodle Network'
In June of 1980, Turner took his vision one step further with the launch of the 24-hour Cable News Network. CNN was widely dismissed in its early years as the Chicken Noodle Network with its low-budget operations and no-name anchors. Over time, the public’s desire for 24-hour news access, rather than a morning newspaper or half-hour evening TV news broadcast, had forever changed the journalism business. That trend became particularly evident during the 1992 Persian Gulf War, when CNN provided around-the-clock coverage, including from behind enemy lines in Baghdad.

Turner was also instrumental in pushing U.S. media companies into international markets with the launch of CNN International in 1985.

Building on his belief in original programming, Turner was also a pioneer in the rapidly consolidating media landscape of the late 1980s and 1990s, with the $1.5 billion purchase of MGM Studios in the mid-1980s. He used its library to create Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and the Cartoon Network.

In 1996, he sold Turner Broadcasting to Time Warner Inc. for $7.5 billion, creating the kind of horizontally integrated media company, with cable networks (HBO, TBS, CNN, TNT), cable systems and Hollywood studios, that currently dominates the traditional media sector. He stayed on as vice chairman of Time Warner but, following the disastrous merger between AOL and Time Warner, Turner resigned as AOL Time Warner’s vice chairman in 2003.

Gambling Big
Throughout his career, Turner took big bets and on several occasions nearly pushed himself into bankruptcy. Following his MGM purchase, Turner was forced to give cable companies and operators like John Malone an equity stake in his company and they kept a tighter rein on his finances.

Over the years as a philanthropist, sportsman and environmentalist, Turner was known for his outspoken views, including some racist comments in his early career, and his longstanding feud with Rupert Murdoch. As a philanthropist, he donated over $1 billion to the United Nations.

In announcing his death, Turner Enterprises noted that he donated “over a billion dollars, saving imperiled and endangered species, preserving more than two million acres of land and serving bison in his Ted’s Montana Grill restaurants. He was also a man known for his no-holds-barred delivery, endearing sense of humor, and undying loyalty to those around him. He charmed people he met with his warmth and general lack of conceit, despite his many successes and celebrity—an attribute made apparent in his response to anyone who addressed him as ‘Mr. Turner’—he’d always reply, ‘Call me Ted!’”

He is survived by his five children, Laura Turner Seydel (Rutherford), Robert E. (Teddy) Turner IV (Blair), Rhett Turner, Beau Turner (Georgia), Jennie Turner Garlington (Peek), fourteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

In a statement, Mark Thompson, chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, said: “Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgement. He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN. Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and we will all take a moment today to recognize him and his impact on our lives and the world."

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav called Turner "a visionary, a trailblazer, and a foundational force behind many of the brands that are central to Warner Bros. Discovery today.

"Ted’s entrepreneurial spirit, creative ambition and willingness to take risks changed the media industry forever," Zaslav added. "He believed deeply in the power of ideas, in doing things differently and in building platforms that could inform, inspire and connect people around the world. That belief inspired generations of leaders, myself included. He did not just disrupt media. He transformed it.

“In 1980, many questioned the logic of launching CNN, the world’s first 24-hour news network,” Zaslav continued. “Ted believed the world deserved access to news as it happened, and he acted on that conviction. CNN fundamentally changed how the world experiences history in real time, and its impact on journalism continues to be felt every day through the work of our teams.

"With the launch of TNT in 1988, and through the sports legacy he built across Turner Sports, he helped redefine sports television and created a platform that brought iconic moments into millions of homes. In founding Turner Classic Movies in 1994, Ted ensured that great films and the history of cinema would be preserved and celebrated. TCM stands as a testament to his belief that great storytelling has no expiration date, and that honoring the past is essential to shaping the future.”

TORONTO—Clyde Smith, former senior vice president, New Technology, Fox Network Engineering and Operations, will receive the NABA International Achievement Award Feb. 5 during the NABA Annual General Meeting at NBCUniversal in New York.

“Clyde’s engineering innovation and technology leadership was always focused on who was doing it best and what we can do to make it work for all of us,” said NABA President Richard Friedel, executive vice president, Technology Strategy, 21st Century Fox. “Clyde is a global thinker and followed the Marshall McLuhan principle of ‘think globally and act locally.’”

Smith, who recently retired from Fox, continues to offer valuable insight and advice to the television industry, NABA said. Prior to joining Fox, Smith held positions with Turner (TBS) and Lockheed Space Operations, where he worked on transport and communications systems for the Space Shuttle after the Challenger accident.

A Life Fellow of the SMPTE and an Honorary Member of the IABM, Smith’s extensive list of honors include an Emmy, Broadcasting and Cable’s Technology Leadership award, the SMPTE Progress Medal and the David Sarnoff Medal.

The award recognizes the technical leadership Smith provided at Fox, Turner and Lockheed as well as the work he has done with NABA colleagues developing common metadata and specifications for file formats. Smith developed relationships with the U.K.’s Digital Production Partnership and the European Broadcasting Union to develop these specs to facilitate global program exchange.

In North America the specs have been included in SMPTE’s IMF Specifications and BXF Standards with UHDTV expected this year, NABA said.

NABA presents its International Achievement Award to an individual for an “outstanding contribution” to the international art and/or science of radio or television that has made a “significant impact on, or improvement in” the state of one or both of these arts.

“It has been my privilege to work closely with the talented and dedicated staff and members of NABA as well as the DPP, EBU, SMPTE and BBC to develop fundamental improvements in Interoperability,” said Smith upon learning that he was selected for the award. “I am deeply thankful for their participation, contributions and for this prestigious recognition of our achievements together.”

Because of a technical bogey, Turner let golf fans watch the Phil Mickelson-Tiger Woods match for free at the last minute.

Mickelson won the $9 million winner-take-all contest in 22 holes, but some viewers who ponied up the $19.99 complained online about others not having to pay.

The technical glitch made it hard for people who wanted to access the event via the Bleacher Report Live streaming service at the last minute. To ensure that paying customers wouldn’t miss the match, Turner took down the paywall and some people were able to find the match on social media.

The technical issue apparently did not affect those who bought the event through traditional cable and satellite distributors.

“We experienced some technical issues on B/R Live that temporarily impacted user access to The Match,” Turner said in a statement. “We’ve taken a number of steps to resolve the matter, with our main priority being the delivery of content to those that have purchased the PPV event.”

Turner said it would be releasing numbers showing how many people bought the event in a few days.

It was not clear whether people who paid for the event would receive a refund.

NEW YORK—Turner Broadcasting Systems has announced that it has acquired a majority stake in iStreamPlanet, a live event streaming, TV Everywhere simulcast and OTT company. Turner will utilize iStreamPlanet to deliver its OTT programming, shift to the cloud and develop new products and services.

Under the terms of the deal, iStreamPlanet will remain an independent entity with the ability to conduct business with other third-party clients. As for its relationship with Turner, iStreamPlanet will help with the company’s live news, simulcast networks, video on demand and multiplatform content.

“This partnership will expand our capabilities to offer live events within and outside of traditional ecosystem and, by bringing iStreamPlanet’s innovative technology in-house, allow us to cultivate future business opportunities on digital platforms,” said John Martin, Turner chairman and CEO.

Turner Broadcasting Systems is a Time Warner company with brands that include CNN, TBS, TNT, HLN, truTV and Turner Classic Movies.