| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Entertainment Cable Television Interactive Media |
| Founded | 1970 |
| Founder(s) | Ted Turner |
| Headquarters | CNN Center Atlanta, Georgia, United States |
| Key people | Philip I. Kent (Chairman and CEO) Ted Turner (Founder) |
| Owner(s) | Time Warner |
| Parent | Time Warner |
| Divisions | CNN TNT TCM Cartoon Network Boomerang TruTV TBS |
| Website | www.turner.com |
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (often abbreviated TBS Networks, TBS, Inc. or simply Turner) is the Time Warner subsidiary managing the collection of cable networks and properties started and acquired by Robert Edward "Ted" Turner starting in the mid-1970s. The company has its headquarters in the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia.[1] TBS, Inc. merged with Time Warner on October 10, 1996, and now operates as a semi-autonomous unit of Time Warner. This would be Time Warner's second foray into cable broadcasting, after owning the Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment Company through Warner Communications before selling it to MTV Networks in 1987.
The company's current assets include CNN, HLN, TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, truTV, and Turner Classic Movies.
The current chairman and CEO of Turner Broadcasting is Philip I. Kent.
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In 1970, Ted Turner, then head of a successful Atlanta-based outdoor advertising firm, purchased WJRJ-Atlanta, Channel 17, a small, struggling UHF station, and renamed it WTCG, for parent company Turner Communications Group. Through careful programming acquisitions, Turner guided the station to success. In December 1976, WTCG originated the "superstation" concept, transmitting via satellite to cable systems.
In 1979, the company changed its name to Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.) and the call letters of its flagship entertainment channel to WTBS, now TBS.
In 1980, the company launched CNN, the first 24-hour all-news network.
In 1984, Turner launched Cable Music Channel, his competition to WASEC's MTV. The channel was short-lived, but helped mold and launch the original format of VH1.
In 1986, Turner bought the pre-May 1986 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer library, the RKO Radio Pictures library, the a.a.p. library, and a few United Artists material (including some post-1952 UA material such as Gilligan's Island and its spinoffs and Bugs Bunny Superstar) from MGM/UA. Turner Entertainment is founded.
In 1988, the company launched TNT.
Turner expanded its presence in film production and distribution, first with the 1991 purchase of the Hanna-Barbera animation studio.[2] New Line Cinema and Castle Rock Entertainment would be acquired three years later.[3][4] Turner launched Cartoon Network on Thursday, October 1, 1992.
In 1994, Turner Classic Movies launched.
On October 10, 1996, Turner Broadcasting merged with Time Warner and grew at a phenomenal pace and reached more than 200 countries and territories around the world.
In 2003, Philip I. Kent succeeded Jamie Kellner as chairman. The former The WB Network was brought into the fold in 2001 during Kellner's watch, but returned to Warner Bros. in 2003 with the departure of Kellner.
In early 2006, the company sold Turner South to Fox Cable Networks creating SportSouth, a regional sports channel. Fox assumed control of the network on May 1, and at the beginning of the newest NHL season, rebranded it as SportSouth, coincidentally the former name of FSN South when Turner owned the network in partnership with Liberty Media, from its founding in 1990, until 1997.
In May 2006, Turner Broadcasting, which already owned 50% of Court TV, purchased the remaining half from Liberty Media.
Also in May 2006, Ted Turner attended his last meeting as a board member of Time Warner and officially parted with the company.
In August 2006, Turner Broadcasting Europe volunteered to edit or stop airing some Hanna-Barbera Tom and Jerry films after Ofcom UK received a complaint that the cigar smoking in a Tom & Jerry short was inappropriate.[5]
The channels in Latin America are controlled by "Turner Broadcasting System Latin America", headquarted in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. 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 Channel (owned by fellow Time Warner division Warner Bros. Entertainment) and for the Brazilian action sports channel Woohoo.
* Now owned by sister company, Warner Bros.)
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