‘A great American and friend’
Rupert Murdoch and Ted Turner were business rivals – and their news networks Fox News and CNN remain fierce competitors.
But Murdoch and Turner were also friends. In a statement following news of Turner’s death, Murdoch credited Turner with having the vision to launch CNN in 1980.
“Ted Turner’s vision for 24-hour cable news transformed the media industry and gave viewers everywhere a front-row seat to witness history unfold,” Murdoch said in a statement. “His impact as a pioneer left an indelible mark on our cultural landscape. He was a great American and friend.”
Murdoch, 95, is currently chairman emeritus of Fox Corp. He led the October 1996 launch of Fox News, a conservative alternative to CNN, which came just a few months after MSNBC’s cable debut.
Other media moguls also praised Turner for his lasting impact on the TV business.
“Ted was a visionary, a pioneer and a fundamental force behind many of the brands at the heart of Warner Bros. Discovery today,” WBD CEO David Zaslav wrote in a memo to employees. “He believed deeply in the power of ideas, in doing things differently and in building platforms that could inform, inspire and connect people around the world. That belief inspired generations of leaders, including myself. He didn’t just disrupt the media. He transformed it.”
Brian Roberts, chairman and co-CEO of Comcast, said in a statement: “Ted changed the lives of so many people around the world. I feel so fortunate to have served on his board early in my career and learned so much from him. He was a true pioneer and an extraordinary philanthropist and his impact is profound and lasting.”
CNN CEO Mark Thompson said in an interview with host Dana Bash that aired on the network Wednesday that Turner was “incredibly visionary” and “a unique figure.”
“We have lost one of our giants… I said to my colleagues today, he is the giant on whose shoulders we stand today,” said Thompson, who took over as CNN’s chief executive in October 2023. “I mention Ted every time I talk to my colleagues, pretty much every time. You’ll know that. I mention Ted all the time because I think that’s the spirit that the media needs right now, especially the traditional media, given the enormous number of challenges we have and the fundamental changes in the world in the way the public wants news.”
Thompson said Turner’s great insight “is that audiences, not just in America, but around the world, want news when they want it and when they need it, which is not part of… a network scheduler’s convenient agenda. It’s when the news happens or when they want to catch up.”
And Mark Lazarus, CEO of Versant Media – parent company of MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) – said of the late cable pioneer: “Ted Turner was one of those rare leaders who truly changed the trajectory of an industry. After working with him, I saw firsthand his willingness to take risks and his belief that media could be something bigger and more impactful. He forced us all to think beyond what was comfortable. His legacy is not only in what he built, but also in the way he inspired others to build. The industry will be served. Well, if we can all ‘find our inner Ted.’ He will be remembered for generations to come.”
