Turner Broadcasting System

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
Subsidiary
Industry
Founded May 1965 (1965-05)
Founder Ted Turner
Headquarters Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Key people
Products
Parent WarnerMedia
Divisions Turner Sports
Subsidiaries
Website www.turner.com

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. is an American media conglomerate that is a division of AT&T's WarnerMedia, and manages the collection of cable television networks and properties initiated or acquired by Ted Turner. The company was founded in 1965, and merged with Time Warner on October 10, 1996. It now operates as a semi-autonomous unit of WarnerMedia. The company's assets include CNN, TBS, TNT, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Boomerang, AT&T SportsNet and TruTV. The headquarters of Turner's properties are located in both the CNN Center in Downtown Atlanta[2] and the Turner Broadcasting campus off Techwood Drive in Midtown Atlanta, which also houses Turner Studios.[3] Across Interstate 75/85 from the Techwood campus is the original home of Turner's WTBS superstation (now separated into its TBS cable network and Peachtree TV), which today houses the headquarters of Adult Swim and Williams Street Productions.

History

Turner Broadcasting System logo until 2015
Former Turner Broadcasting System logo

Early history

Turner Broadcasting System traces its roots to a billboard company in Savannah purchased by Robert Edward Turner II in the late 1940s.[4] Turner grew the business, which later became known as Turner Advertising Company.[4] Robert Edward Turner's son, Ted Turner, inherited the company when the elder Turner died in 1963.[4] After taking over the company, Ted Turner expanded the business into radio and television.[4]

Turner Broadcasting System as a formal entity was incorporated in Georgia in May 1965.[5]

1970s

In 1970, Ted Turner purchased WJRJ-Atlanta, Channel 17, a small, struggling Ultra High Frequency station, and renamed it WTCG, for parent company Turner Communications Group. By careful programming acquisitions, Turner guided the station to success. During December 1976, WTCG originated the "superstation" concept, transmitting via satellite to cable systems.

On December 17, 1976 at 1:00 pm, WTCG Channel 17's signal was beamed via satellite to its four cable systems in Grand Island, Nebraska; Newport News, Virginia; Troy, Alabama; and Newton, Kansas. All four cable systems started receiving the 1948 Dana Andrews - Cesar Romero film Deep Waters already in progress. The movie had started 30 minutes earlier. WTCG went from being a little television station to a major TV network that every one of the 24,000 households outside of the 675,000 in Atlanta was receiving coast-to-coast. WTCG became a so-called Superstation and created a precedent of today's basic cable television.

HBO had gone to satellite transmissions to distribute its signal nationally in 1975, but that was a service that cable subscribers were made to pay extra to receive. Ted Turner's innovation signaled the start of the basic cable revolution.

In 1979, the company changed its name to Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.) and the call letters of its main entertainment channel to WTBS.

1980s

On June 1, 1980, Cable News Network (CNN) was launched at 17:00 EDT becoming the first 24-hour news cable channel. The husband and wife team of Dave Walker and Lois Hart news anchored the first newscast, Burt Reinhardt the then executive vice president of CNN, hired most of the channel's first 200 employees & 25-member staff including Bernard Shaw, the network's first news anchor.

In 1981, Turner Broadcasting System acquired Brut Productions from Faberge Inc.[6]

In 1984, Turner initiated Cable Music Channel, his competition for WASEC's MTV. The channel was short-lived but helped influence the original format of VH1.

In 1986, after a failed attempt to acquire CBS, Turner purchased the film studio MGM/UA Entertainment Co. from Kirk Kerkorian for $1.5 billion. Following the acquisition, Turner had an enormous debt and sold parts of the acquisition. MGM/UA Entertainment was sold back to Kirk Kerkorian. The MGM/UA Studio lot in Culver City was sold to Lorimar/Telepictures. Turner kept MGM's pre-May 1986 film and TV library as well as the Associated Artists Productions library (the pre-1950[7][8] Warner Bros. film library and the Fleischer Studios/Famous Studios Popeye cartoons originally released by Paramount Pictures), and the U.S./Canadian distribution rights to the RKO Pictures library. Turner Entertainment Co. was founded on August 4, 1986.

On October 3, 1988, the company launched Turner Network Television (TNT).[9]

1990s

Turner expanded its presence in movie production and distribution, first with the 1991 purchase of the Hanna-Barbera animation studio.[10] On December 22, 1993, Turner acquired Castle Rock Entertainment. Turner purchased New Line Cinema a month later.[11][12][13]

Turner launched Cartoon Network on October 1, 1992, followed by Turner Classic Movies (TCM) on April 14, 1994.

On October 10, 1996, Turner merged with Time Warner, a company formed in 1990[14] by the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications.[15] Through this merger, Warner Bros. had regained the rights to its pre-1950 library, while Turner gained access to the company's post-1950 library and other properties. The company also became a subsidiary of Time Warner since the acquisition.

2000s

In 2003, Philip I. Kent succeeded Jamie Kellner as chairman. Operational duties for The WB were transferred by Time Warner from Warner Bros. to Turner Broadcasting during 2001, while Kellner was chairman, but were returned to Warner Bros. in 2003 with the departure of Kellner.

On February 23, 2006, the company agreed to sell the regional entertainment channel Turner South to Fox Entertainment Group.[16] Fox assumed control of the channel on May 1, and on October 13 relaunched it as SportSouth - coincidentally, the former name of Fox Sports South when Turner owned this channel in partnership with Liberty Media between 1990 and 1996.[17]

In May 2006, Time Warner, which had owned 50% of Court TV since 1998, purchased the remaining 50% from Liberty Media and began running the channel as part of Turner Broadcasting. The channel was relaunched as TruTV on January 1, 2008.

Also in May 2006, Ted Turner attended his last meeting as a board member of Time Warner and officially parted with the company.[18]

On October 5, 2007, Turner Broadcasting System completed the acquisition of Claxson Interactive Pay Television Networks in Latin America.[19]

2010s

On August 26, 2010, Turner Broadcasting took full control of Chilevisión, a TV channel owned by Chile's President Sebastián Piñera.[20]

On September 8, 2011, Turner Broadcasting System acquired LazyTown Entertainment, the producer of the TV series LazyTown.[21]

On January 1, 2014, John K. Martin succeeded Phil Kent as chairman and CEO of Turner Broadcasting.[22]

In August 2014, The Wrap reported that Turner was preparing to offer buy-outs to 550 employees as part of plans to restructure the company heading into 2015. The ratings performance of CNN and HLN were cited as a factor, while CBSSports.com reported that the rising rights fees Turner pays for its NBA broadcasts on TNT may have also been a factor.[23][24] It was further reported in October 2014 that the company planned to reduce its workforce by 10% (1,475 people) through layoffs across a wide set of units including corporate positions.[25]

On August 14, 2015, it was announced that Turner Broadcasting had acquired a majority stake in iStreamPlanet, a Las Vegas-based video streaming services company, in an effort to bolster its over-the-top programming and shift its core technology infrastructure to the cloud. iStreamPlanet is a direct competitor of Major League Baseball Advanced Media. The deal was reported to be in the neighborhood of $200 million.[26] On October 2015, Turner launched a streaming-video network named Great Big Story.[27]

In April 2017, in order to expedite the sale of Time Warner to AT&T by shedding FCC-licensed properties, WPCH-TV was sold to Meredith Corporation, which had already been operating WPCH on its behalf since 2011 as a sister to its local station WGCL-TV.[28]

On March 22, 2018, Six Flags and Riverside Group announced a partnership with Turner Asia Pacific to bring attractions based on Tuzki and other Turner-owned IPs to its theme parks in China.[29]

On June 15, 2018, it was announced that John Martin would be leaving as CEO following AT&T's completed acquisition of Time Warner, which would later be renamed WarnerMedia once the acquisition was completed.[30]

Properties

U.S. domestic

International

Latin America
The channels in Latin America are controlled by Turner Broadcasting System Latin America, headquartered in Atlanta. It broadcasts Latin American versions of U.S. channels, and also channels that are exclusive for the region. TBS LA also handles advertising sales for Warner TV (owned by fellow Time Warner division Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.) and for the Brazilian action sports channel Woohoo.

News and Information

Indian

Kids and Teens

Lifestyle

Music

Movies & Entertainment

Sports

  • TNT Sports (Argentina)
  • Woohoo (Brazil)
  • Esporte Interativo (Brazil)
  • Esporte Interativo Plus (Brazil) - Only Web
  • EI Maxx (Brazil)
  • EI Maxx 2 (Brazil)
  • CDF (Chile)

Chinese

Other regions

Regional News

  • CNN Chile, a joint-venture between Turner Latin América and VTR Globalcom that is only aired in Chile.
  • CNN IBN, a joint-venture between Turner, TV18 and Global Broadcast News that is only aired in India.
  • CNN Türk, owned by Doğan Medya Grubu that is only aired in Turkey.
  • CNN+, a joint-venture between Turner (50%) and Sogecable that is only aired in Spain, closed down in late 2010.

Entertainment

Animation

Movies

Former assets

Note: (*) - Now owned or absorbed by sister company, Warner Bros.

References

  1. ↑ http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/15/media/warnermedia-john-stankey-announcements/index.html
  2. ↑ "Contact Us." Turner Broadcasting System.
  3. ↑ "TERMS OF USE". Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Turner, Ted (2008). Call Me Ted. New York: Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 978-0-446-58189-9.
  5. ↑ "Turner Broadcasting System, Inc". Georgia Corporations Division. Georgia Secretary of State. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  6. ↑ "Faberge Sells Brut's Assets". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. January 1, 1982. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  7. ↑ You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story, (2008) p. 255.
  8. ↑ "Media History Digital Library". Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  9. ↑ Brennan, James E. (October 2, 1988). "NEW TNT CHANNEL BEGINS MONDAY ON CABLE SYSTEMS". The Buffalo News. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  10. ↑ Lippman, John (October 30, 1991). "Turner Is Buying Hanna-Barbera Film Library". Los Angeles Times. Times Mirror Company. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
  11. ↑ Harris, Kathryn (August 7, 1993). "New Line Cinema holding merger talks with Turner".
  12. ↑ Citron, Alan (August 18, 1993). "Turner gets nod to buy New Line and Castle Rock".
  13. ↑ "Turner Broadcasting Company Report". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Washington, D.C.
  14. ↑ "FAQs - Time Warner - Investor Relations - Time Warner Inc".
  15. ↑ "Time-TBS merger closed - Oct. 10, 1996". CNNMoney. Time Warner. CNN. October 10, 1996. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  16. ↑ Becker, Anne. "Time Warner Sells Turner South to Fox". Broadcasting & Cable. Reed Business Information. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  17. ↑ Grossman, Ben. "Turner South To Become SportSouth". Broadcasting & Cable. Reed Business Information. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  18. ↑ Weber, Harry (19 May 2006). "Ted Turner Bids Farewell to Time Warner". Washington Post. AP. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  19. ↑ "Claxson Interactive Group Inc (XSONF.PK)". Reuters. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  20. ↑ "Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. to Acquire Chilevisión". Time Warner. August 25, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  21. ↑ Turner, Mimi (September 8, 2011). "'Lazytown' Founder Sells To Turner Broadcasting For $25 Million". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  22. ↑ "Turner". John Martin Bio. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  23. ↑ "550 Buyouts, Layoffs Imminent at Turner; HLN, CNN Among Cuts (Exclusive)". The Wrap. The Wrap News Inc. August 19, 2014. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  24. ↑ "Report: Turner to fire 550 people in advance of rising NBA rights deal". CBSSports.com. CBS Interactive. August 26, 2014. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  25. ↑ Friedman, Wayne (October 6, 2014). "Turner Broadcasting To Cut 10% Of Workforce". MediaDailyNews. New York: MediaPost Communications.
  26. ↑ Ramachandran, Shalini (August 14, 2015). "Time Warner's Turner Cable Unit Acquires Majority Stake In iStreamPlanet". The Wall Street Journal. News Corp. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  27. ↑ "CNN, Turner Launch Great Big Story Streaming-Video Network". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. October 20, 2015. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  28. ↑ Shields, Todd (April 17, 2017). "Time Warner TV-Station Sale Approved, Easing AT&T Deal Path". Bloomberg. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  29. ↑ http://investors.sixflags.com/news-and-events/press-releases/2018/03-22-2018-110034822
  30. ↑ https://deadline.com/2018/06/turner-ceo-john-martin-to-depart-1202411599/
  31. ↑ "WCW: How It Died, and How WWE and Vince McMahon Made Sure It Never Rose Again". Bleacher Report. Turner Broadcasting System.
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