Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) Inc. is the biggest supplier of programs for the players in the cable industry. It owns the broadcast rights of the Cartoon Network, CNN and all its affiliates, and TNT. It also owns the franchise of the baseball club Atlanta Braves and oversees the operations of pga.com and nascar.com. TBS is a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc.
TBS was founded by Robert Edward “Ted” Turner III. After his father committed suicide in 1961, Turner found out that his father agreed to sell their company, the Turner Advertising Company. Turner paid the buyers $200,000 to rescind the agreement.
In 1970, Turner merged with the small UHF TV station Rice Broadcasting Company Inc. Since Turner was the major stockholder, the company adopted the name Turner Communications Corporation.
After the success of HBO’s nationwide satellite broadcast, Turner also expanded his audience share by using the cable systems. He opened the SuperStation WTBS in December 1976, which later on became another TV network.
In June 1980, Turner started the Cable News Network (CNN) for a 24-hour live news broadcast. The 24-hour format was available and convenient to many viewers. Since CNN’s feeds were live and unedited, Turner opened the Headlines News which showed edited news from CNN. In April 1982, Turner also opened CNN Radio.
TBS rode with the increased cable system infrastructure in the country. There was an increased audience share as more and more homes subscribed to cable TV services.
In 1985, Turner helped in the founding of the Better World Society, which produced documentaries that relate to environmental and ecological issues.
TBS acquired the movie outfit MGM/UA Entertainment in 1986 for $1.4 billion. However, the deal was not very “friendly” to Turner and what he later on described as “substantial accounting losses in the foreseeable future.”
Soon, TBS began to pick up. Turner Network Television (TNT) started to perform well. Later on, Turner also started Turner Pictures for filmmaking and Turner Publishing for publications.
One of CNN’s most spectacular news coverage was the Persian Gulf events in the 1990s. CNN also covered the Operation Desert Storm with a commitment of 2,000 workers and an airtime of more than 4,000 hours.
Turner specializes in particular markets like the Airport Channel which broadcasts places in airports like gates and baggage claim areas. Its first year of operations earned revenues of $10 million.
TBS continues to innovate to remain at the edge of competition.
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