![]() ![]() Famously, after not only surviving the ordeal but actually completing and winning the disastrous race, Turner told the media “I was more afraid of losing than I was of dying.” While Turner was no doubt at severe risk during the chaos that unfolded, his response after the race is a good insight into the psychology of the man himself. Commercial and military vessels and aircraft scrambled to pluck sailors from the frigid waters before they too became victims. The infamous disaster that occurred that year cost 15 Fastnet competitors their lives, in addition to the tragic loss of an additional six spectators, as a hurricane-force storm tore through the competition and helpless racing boats. The Fastnet is a biennial competition down the English Channel and across the Celtic Sea. Turner, an avid competitive sailor, was already a 1977 America’s Cup champion when he entered his yacht, Tenacious, in the 1979 Fastnet offshore race. He was the unofficial King of Atlanta one might say, and one of the scions of the cable television revolution… but that’s almost where his story ended. His vision was bold and infectious.” Riccardo S Savi/Getty ImagesĪt this point Turner had a burgeoning television empire, in addition to becoming the owner of both the MLB’s Atlanta Braves in 1976 and the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks in 1977. He stated his dream of using communication to bring peace, to tell both sides of any story, that ‘one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.’ If he could get people to understand each other, there would be no wars. He had great passion for doing what was right for the world. In some ways, he was outrageous, but in most ways he was remarkable. He was willing to start small and had the persistence and patience to make his ideas grow. His vision and his determination and his unwillingness to quit were infectious. However, it was clear that Ted Turner was special. Once he had dived headfirst into the unknown of 24-hour news, it seemed there was no shortage of others now eager to follow the trail he had boldly blazed.Įven Turner’s publicist, promoter and close confidante during this era, Bob Hope, was incredulous at Turner’s abilities and drive, writing in the Atlanta Business Chronicle, “I had no idea what was happening or how big things could grow. Consider Fox News and MSNBC in news, and CNBC, Fox Business and Bloomberg in finance. But his creation of CNN would see a flood of around-the-clock competitors follow in its wake. TBS and TNT remain some of the biggest names in cable television, which alone would give Turner an outsized impact on the television industry from both a distribution and business model perspective. Revolutionary, it would serve as a pioneer in the nascent cable television revolution, and Turner would follow by creating several other successful networks including CNN2 (now Headline News) in 1982, Turner Network Television (TNT) in 1988, Cartoon Network in 1992 and Turner Classic Movies (TCM) in 1994. TBS was the first “superstation” in the United States, as its content was beamed nationwide with satellite technology. If this first foray into television was Turner dipping his toes in the water, then he jumped off the deep end with his creation of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) in 1976. ![]() His first move after renaming the family business Turner Communications Group was to purchase two independent UHF television stations in the Atlanta and Charlotte markets. With the tenacity for which he would later be known, Turner had stabilized the business by the end of the decade, and set his sights on a new industry-television. In the aftermath of the shock and fallout this caused, Turner took over as President of Turner Advertising Company. Turner’s father took his own life in March of 1963. It’s at this time that the tale of Ted Turner’s rise to billionaire, global media icon and revered conservationist began, albeit cloaked in unspeakable tragedy and personal loss. Simply, Turner did far more than mold a cable news channel, he helped shape the 24-hour society we inhabit in the 21st century.īorn in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1938, Turner went on to study at Brown University, although he departed in 1959 without completing his degree, to work for his father’s Turner Advertising Company. From late-night work emails to mobile notifications, and social media to streaming media, CNN helped make the public comfortable with, and eventually demanding of, the ability to get the information they want, anytime they want it. Turner also set the stage, purposefully or not, for a society even more amenable to the introduction of the internet and its subsequent acceleration of the information age. ![]()
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