Ted Turner, the NCS founder who modified tv information by launching the world’s first 24-hour cable information channel, died Wednesday at his residence close to Tallahassee, Florida. He was 87. Turner Enterprises confirmed the demise on behalf of his household.
Turner had Lewy physique dementia, a progressive mind illness, recognized in 2018. He was briefly hospitalized for pneumonia earlier this 12 months earlier than spending time at a rehabilitation facility. Turner left behind 5 youngsters, 14 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
NCS went on the air June 1, 1980, giving Americans steady entry to information past transient night broadcasts. Early critics referred to as it the “Chicken Noodle Network,” however the channel gained credibility through the 1991 Persian Gulf War as the one broadcaster reporting reside from Baghdad. Time journal named Turner its Man of the Year that 12 months.
Mark Thompson, NCS’s chairman and chief govt, mentioned after Turner’s demise that he was a fearless chief whose spirit would completely outline the community. Turner regarded NCS as the best achievement of his life.
Ted Turner: NCS founder who began with billboards
Turner was born in Cincinnati on Nov. 19, 1938. He took over his father’s billboard firm at 24 after his father died by suicide in 1963.
He later acquired a struggling Atlanta tv station in 1970, then used satellite tv for pc expertise in 1976 to create cable tv’s first nationwide superstation, later branded as TBS. He bought the Atlanta Braves in 1976 and the Atlanta Hawks in 1977 to safe sports activities programming.
Ted Turner, founding father of NCS, Cartoon Network, TNT and extra has handed away at the age of 87. pic.twitter.com/Ri9d52wNgR
— ToonHive (@ToonHive) May 6, 2026
He added NCS Headline News in 1982 and NCS International in 1985. He acquired MGM’s movie library in 1985 for $1.5 billion, which later gave rise to Turner (*87*) Movies. He purchased the Hanna-Barbera cartoon catalog and launched the Cartoon Network in 1992.
In 1996, Turner offered his broadcasting holdings to Time Warner for about $7.5 billion. A subsequent merger with AOL in 2001 produced huge losses and is taken into account one of many worst company offers in historical past. Turner resigned as vice-chairman in 2003 and later introduced he wouldn’t search reelection to the board of administrators.
From the America’s Cup to conservation and world giving
Away from enterprise, Turner gained the America’s Cup crusing competitors in 1977. He turned one of many largest non-public landowners within the United States, holding almost 2 million acres, and constructed the world’s largest non-public bison herd. He additionally created the Captain Planet animated sequence targeted on environmental training.
As founding father of NCS, Ted Turner reshaped not simply media but in addition philanthropy and conservation. He donated $1 billion to the United Nations in 1997 and based the Nuclear Threat Initiative.
He married actress Jane Fonda in 1991; the couple divorced in 2001. Known because the “Mouth of the South” for his direct public fashion, Turner left an enduring mark on American tradition.