Ted Turner, the media mogul who founded CNN and played a defining role in the history of professional wrestling through World Championship Wrestling, has died at the age of 87. The death was confirmed Wednesday through a statement released by Turner Enterprises and reported by multiple major outlets, including CNN.
Turner’s impact on television and wrestling stretched across decades. Born Robert Edward Turner III on November 19, 1938, in Cincinnati, Ohio, he transformed a regional media operation into one of the most influential broadcasting empires in the world.
After taking control of his father’s billboard business in 1963, Turner expanded aggressively into television. He purchased Atlanta station Channel 17 in 1970 and later turned it into the national superstation WTBS through satellite distribution. That move helped reshape cable television and also changed the future of wrestling on national TV.
For wrestling fans, Turner’s most important early decision came when he kept pro wrestling programming on the station after acquiring it. By 1972, Georgia Championship Wrestling occupied the famous Saturday 6:05 p.m. timeslot that became synonymous with wrestling for generations of viewers.
That relationship eventually led to one of the most important periods in wrestling history.
In 1984, Vince McMahon purchased a controlling interest in Georgia Championship Wrestling and replaced its programming on WTBS with WWF television in what became known as “Black Saturday.” The move was poorly received, and the WWF programming struggled on the network. Within months, Jim Crockett Promotions took over the slot under the World Championship Wrestling banner.
When Jim Crockett Promotions faced financial problems in 1988, Turner Broadcasting purchased the company outright for approximately $9 million, officially launching World Championship Wrestling under Turner ownership.
WCW later became the only wrestling promotion to consistently defeat the WWF in television ratings during the modern era. After Eric Bischoff was elevated into leadership, Turner approved the launch of Monday Nitro on TNT in 1995, directly competing with Monday Night Raw and beginning the Monday Night Wars.
Turner-backed WCW featured many of wrestling’s biggest stars, including Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Sting, Randy Savage, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and many others. The nWo storyline helped Nitro defeat Raw in the ratings for 83 consecutive weeks.
Turner’s influence in the company diminished after Turner Broadcasting merged with Time Warner in 1996 and later AOL Time Warner in 2001. WCW programming was eventually removed from TNT and TBS, leading to WWE purchasing WCW’s assets in March 2001 and ending nearly three decades of wrestling on Turner television.
Outside wrestling, Turner built a massive legacy through CNN, TNT, Cartoon Network, Turner Classic Movies, and ownership of the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks. He was named Time Magazine’s Man of the Year in 1991 and became widely known for his philanthropy, environmental activism, and billion-dollar pledge to the United Nations.
Turner publicly revealed in 2018 that he had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia. He is survived by five children, fourteen grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Even today, wrestling continues airing on Turner-founded cable channels, with All Elite Wrestling programming still broadcast on TBS and TNT.
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