Ted Turner didn’t just revolutionize television − he changed the way we see our world

The profusion of video access to anywhere on earth, at any time of day or night, was unimaginable before Turner’s work to make CNN conceivable and then real.

By: Michael J. Socolow, University of Maine, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: May 7, 2026

Words: 1,366

Last Updated: 2 months, 3 weeks ago

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By Michael J. Socolow, University of Maine

Ted Turner, who died on April 6, 2026, was bright, shrewd and, most of all, lucky. The cable TV visionary proved to be in the right place, at the right time, to change television and video news forever.

Most of his big gambles, on things such as the MGM studio and library, which led to the creation of the Turner Classic Movies channel,

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