CNN founder Ted Turner dies at 87

WASHINGTON: Ted Turner, the US media entrepreneur who launched CNN in 1980 and reshaped television news with a 24-hour format, has died at the age of 87, the network said on Wednesday.

Turner, known for his larger-than-life public persona, was also a yachtsman and philanthropist. He had been living with Lewy Body Dementia, a degenerative disease.

The creation of Cable News Network marked a major shift in broadcast journalism. CNN became the first television news channel in the United States to offer continuous news coverage, challenging established broadcasters and rapidly extending its reach around the world.

The network gained international prominence during its reporting on the 1990-91 Gulf War. Its correspondents also delivered live coverage of major global developments, including the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Chinese government’s crackdown on protests in Tiananmen Square.

CNN’s standing as a key source of breaking news was further strengthened when it kept reporters in Baghdad during US bombardment of the Iraqi capital.

Mark Thompson, chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, paid tribute to Turner in a statement.

Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and we will all take a moment today to recognise him and his impact on our lives and the world.

He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN.

From family business to media empire

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in November 1938, Robert Edward Ted Turner III attended a military boarding school in Tennessee. He later studied at Brown University but was expelled before completing his degree.

Turner assumed control of his family’s struggling advertising business after his father, who had been facing financial difficulties, died by suicide.

He went on to acquire several radio stations before making his first major move into television with the purchase of a struggling Atlanta station in 1970. A decade later, that station became the flagship of the Turner Broadcasting System, whose profits helped finance the launch of CNN.

Turner later expanded his media holdings beyond CNN. His television portfolio came to include TBS and TNT, which focused on sports and entertainment, as well as Turner Classic Movies and Cartoon Network, among other channels.

CNN’s success went on to influence the wider television industry, helping spur the rise of other round-the-clock news outlets in the United States and abroad. These included Fox News, founded by Turner’s longtime rival Rupert Murdoch, as well as MSNBC and numerous international news networks.