By Harvey Solomon
(The Hollywood Times) 5/16/26 – The Mouth of the South. Captain Outrageous. Ted Turner earned those nicknames and many more during his self-made ascent from fledgling owner of a struggling UHF channel in Atlanta to media mogul extraordinaire.
After HBO’s daring leap into space in 1975, he recognized something that broadcasters with far more experience hadn’t: satellite transmission of TV signals would transform telecommunications forever. So, on December 17, 1976, Ted hitched his wagon to the cable star – Satcom I, a.k.a. the Cable Bird – and parlayed his Podunk indie channel into the first Superstation – a global game changer.
His next move was even more audacious. Challenging entrenched behemoths
ABC, CBS and NBC, he launched 24-hour news channel CNN. Where the big boys
feared to tread, Ted stomped on conventional wisdom and put his money – and his
company, his reputation, his entire future – where his mouth was. “Chicken noodle
news. Not a chance,” scoffed naysayers. Wrong again.
After weathering five red-ink splattered years, on January 28, 1986, the eyes of America were focused squarely on Cape Canaveral. New Hampshire teacher Christa McAuliffe,
37, the first civilian astronaut – chosen from 11,000+ applicants – climbed
aboard the space shuttle Challenger. Off it soared. A minute later it exploded,
killing all seven on board. Millions were watching on CNN, the only major network broadcasting live. That day elevated CNN as the de facto worldwide source for breaking domestic and international events.
Chernobyl, Tiananmen Square, Operation Desert Storm and on and on. In 1991 Time
crowned Turner its Man of the Year, calling him “the prince of the global village.”
By 1997, after he’d added three more crown jewels – TNT, Cartoon Network and TCM – the National Cable Television Association (NCTA) tapped him to emcee its annual Vanguard awards event, cable’s highest honor.
Having scripted them before, I wrote his speech which NCTA vetted and approved. When reading one winner’s short profile, he nailed this line: “Now take it from me, cable operators at times can be a pretty ornery bunch.” Then he paused and pointed a finger. “I did not write that line,” he said. Not quite a showstopper but everyone took note.
Given Ted’s lifelong reputation for saying whatever he wanted, whenever he
wanted, to whoever he wanted, it never occurred to me that this one sentence would be
a bridge too far. Because it was true. Negotiations between the “wire hangers” and
programmers for carriage fees often got contentious. Ted was known to get down on his
hands and knees, more than once, and beg. But in the end deals got hammered out
and everyone moved on. Just like tonight. Ted finished up, reading every word I wrote.
Crisis averted. But for a rank-and-file nobody to have caused one of cable’s
pioneers enough consternation to call out my words on stage? It probably doesn’t
qualify as my fifteen minutes of fame, like Andy Warhol once said – more like fifteen
seconds.
Today, I have nothing but admiration for how Ted blazed so many paths in his extraordinary life. And sadness at how Lewy body dementia forced him to exit
the stage far too soon. His voice will be missed forever because he didn’t just talk a good game. He played it, masterfully.
Among his countless accomplishments, he always demonstrated an unwavering
commitment to the environment.
Can you think of another television network that had a Vice President for Environmental
Policy? Their environmental programming won him many awards and lost him millions
of dollars. He never blinked. When famed oceanographer/filmmaker Jacques
Cousteau’s financial ship was nearly aground, he and his son Jean-Michel arranged a
meeting through their mutual friend John Denver. Ted committed five million dollars on
the spot and sunk in much more afterwards. Cousteau became a father figure, and they
remained lifelong friends and mentors.
The world has benefitted immensely from Ted’s vision and balls. That’s a word to
which I think Captain Outrageous would’ve given an enthusiastic thumbs up, not an
accusatory raised finger. To an intrepid warrior with grit, gumption and guts. R.I.P.
