Ted Turner, TV revolutionary dies at 87

Ted Turner, the visionary media mogul who changed the way the world consumes news by launching CNN as the first 24-hour rolling news channel, has died at the age of 87. 

The network he founded confirmed his death.

Turner launched Cable News Network in 1980, a move that was widely mocked at the time, critics dubbed it the "Chicken Noodle Network", but which would go on to reshape global media. 

The channel proved itself during the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and the Challenger space shuttle disaster in 1986, before coming of age with its landmark live coverage of the Gulf War in 1990 and 1991. 

President George Bush once remarked that he learned more from CNN than he did from the CIA.

CNN's current CEO and chairman Mark Thompson described Turner as "the giant on whose shoulders we stand," adding: "Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgement. He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN." 

Thompson also noted that Turner once lived in CNN's headquarters for several years, frequently walking around the newsroom in his bathrobe, "eager to debate the day's news."

Donald Trump, a fierce critic of the current CNN, paid tribute to its founder. 

"Whenever I needed him, he was there, always willing to fight for a good cause!" he said, calling Turner "one of the greats of broadcast history, and a friend of mine."

Turner's impact extended well beyond CNN. 

He built the Turner Broadcasting System from a radio station in Atlanta into one of the most powerful media empires in the United States, adding TBS, TNT, Turner Classic Movies and Cartoon Network to his portfolio.

Away from the boardroom, Turner was a world-class yachtsman who won the America's Cup in 1977. 

He owned the Atlanta Braves baseball team, the Atlanta Hawks basketball team and the Atlanta Thrashers ice hockey team. 

His philanthropy was equally sweeping, he donated $1 billion to the United Nations and invested heavily in environmental causes and clean energy. 

He also created the Goodwill Games in Moscow at a time when the city had been shunned by much of the world for political reasons.

His brash personality earned him the nicknames "the Mouth of the South" and "Captain Outrageous." 

He was married to actress Jane Fonda from 1991 to 2001. In 2018, Turner revealed he had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia.