Ted Turner, the media entrepreneur and founder of the world’s first 24-hour news network, CNN, has died at the age of 87. According to CNN, Turner died on Wednesday, and his death was announced by Turner Enterprises. His death was announced in a statement posted on the official X handle……
Ted Turner, the media entrepreneur and founder of the world’s first 24-hour news network, CNN, has died at the age of 87.
According to CNN, Turner died on Wednesday, and his death was announced by Turner Enterprises.
His death was announced in a statement posted on the official X handle of the news network on Wednesday.
“Turner’s vision changed journalism forever by making news immediate, global, and constant,” the statement from Turner Enterprises said.
READ MORE: CNN Founder Ted Turner Dies at 87
In this report, TVC News Online outlines 10 key facts about Ted Turner.
1. Ted Turner was born in Ohio in the year 1939. He was nicknamed “The Mouth of the South” for his outspoken nature and built a media empire that encompassed cable’s first superstation and popular channels for movies and cartoons, plus professional sports teams like the Atlanta Braves.
2. Turner was also an internationally known yachtsman; a philanthropist who founded the United Nations Foundation; an activist who sought the worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons; and a conservationist who became one of the foremost landowners in the United States.
3. Turner founded the first 24hours new network, CNN, in 1980, a pioneering move that reshaped how the world consumes news by offering continuous, real-time coverage of global events. The network grew into one of the most influential media organisations in the world.
4. According to CNN, he played a crucial role in reintroducing bison to the American West and also created the Captain Planet cartoon to educate kids about the environment.
5. In 1991, Turner was named Time magazine’s Man of the Year for “influencing the dynamic of events and turning viewers in 150 countries into instant witnesses of history.”
6. CNN’s success led other news channels to follow, such as Fox News, launched in 1996 by Turner’s long-time rival Rupert Murdoch.
7. According to the BBC, CNN was far from Turner’s only outlet. He began his career by taking over the successful family billboard company when his father took his own life, then bought a radio station in Atlanta, Georgia.
8. He also became a major philanthropist, donating $1bn to the United Nations and millions more to environmental causes, and promoted and invested in clean energy.
9. He was married to actress Jane Fonda from 1991 until 2001.
10. A month before his 80th birthday in 2018, Turner revealed he had Lewy body dementia, a degenerative nerve disease. In early 2025, Turner was hospitalised with a mild case of pneumonia before recovering at a rehabilitation facility.
