CNN founder Ted Turner, a pioneer of cable TV news, dies at 87

Source: CNN US

Updated May 6, 2026, 10:14 AM ET
PUBLISHED May 6, 2026, 10:07 AM ET


Ted Turner, the media maverick and philanthropist who founded CNN, a pioneering 24-hour network that revolutionized television news, died Wednesday, according to a news release from Turner Enterprises. He was 87.

The Ohio-born Atlanta businessman, nicknamed “The Mouth of the South” for his outspoken nature, 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.

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. He played a crucial role in reintroducing bison to the American west. He even created the Captain Planet cartoon to educate kids about the environment.

But it was his audacious vision to deliver news from around the world in real time, at all hours, that really made him famous — once his idea finally took off. 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.”

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/06/us/ted-turner-death

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And it has been destroyed. He had a humble concept of stationing 2 employees (usually a reporter and sound person) in multiple countries, with a sat phone, and broadcast live from around the world.

I remember being on a small cruise boat (with 100 tourists on board) going down the Nile River in Egypt from Luxor to Aswan, watching CNN from the boat's lounge back in 1992.