A Young Boy's Dream
Little Ted bounced in his seat as he watched the cars zoom past his father's billboard. It was 1947 in Cincinnati, and nine-year-old Ted Turner couldn't stop smiling. The big, colorful signs his daddy put up made the streets look magical.
"Daddy, how do you make the signs so big?" Ted asked, his blue eyes wide with wonder.
Robert Turner, Ted's father, chuckled and ruffled his son's hair. "It takes hard work, son. But anything worth doing takes hard work."
Ted lived in a nice house with his sister and parents. His father owned Turner Advertising Company, which put up billboards all over the city. Even as a young boy, Ted loved watching his father work.
"I want to be just like you when I grow up!" Ted would tell his father.
Life wasn't always easy for young Ted. He went to different schools as his family moved around. Sometimes he felt lonely, but he always found ways to keep busy. He loved sailing boats and reading books about adventure.
Learning the Family Business
When Ted turned twelve, his father started teaching him about billboards. They would drive around Cincinnati together, looking at different signs.
"See that empty space there?" his father would point. "That's where we could put our next billboard!"
Ted learned important lessons:• Always work hard• Think big• Never give up• Take care of your customers• Be brave when things get tough
Fun Fact: Young Ted was so good at math that he could add big numbers in his head faster than most grown-ups could with a calculator!
But not everything was perfect. Ted's father was strict and wanted him to be the best at everything. He sent Ted to military school when he was just a teenager. At first, Ted didn't like being away from home, but he learned to be strong and independent.
A Difficult Time
One day, when Ted was twenty-four, something very sad happened. His father became very sick and worried about the business. Ted tried to help, but before he could, his father passed away.
This was the hardest time in Ted's life. He was young, scared, and now had to take care of the family business. But remember those lessons his father taught him? Ted never forgot them.
"I promised myself I would make my father proud," Ted said later. "I would build something amazing."
Young Ted stood in front of his father's old office. The billboard company wasn't very big yet, but Ted had big dreams. He looked out the window at the city streets below.
"I'm going to do more than just billboards," he whispered to himself. "I'm going to change the world."
Little did anyone know that this young man from Cincinnati would grow up to create something that would change how everyone watches news on TV. But that was just the beginning of Ted Turner's amazing story.
Ted kept a special picture of him and his father looking at billboards together. It reminded him of where he started and helped him dream about where he could go. ️
The sun was setting over Cincinnati, and Ted Turner was ready to begin his journey. He had his father's lessons in his heart and big dreams in his mind. The billboard company was just the first step in what would become an incredible adventure.Building from the Ground Up
The year was 1963, and Ted Turner sat at his father's old desk. He was only 24 years old. The billboard company now belonged to him. He looked at the pile of papers and took a deep breath.
"I can do this," Ted said to himself. "I have to do this."
Important Moment: Ted had to learn how to run a business very quickly. The company owed a lot of money, but Ted wasn't scared!
Making Big Changes
Ted knew he needed to think differently. The old way of doing things wasn't enough anymore. He called all the workers together for a meeting.
"We're going to make this company bigger and better," he told them. "Who's with me?"
The workers smiled and nodded. They liked Ted's energy and big ideas. Together, they started putting up more billboards than ever before. Ted worked harder than anyone else.
"If you want to succeed, you have to work harder than everybody else," Ted would say.
Growing the Business
Ted didn't just stick to Cincinnati. He started buying billboard spaces in other cities too. Soon, Turner Advertising had signs in:
• Atlanta• Charleston• Jacksonville• Savannah• Macon
Every time Ted earned money, he would use it to buy more billboards. Some people thought he was crazy for spending so much, but Ted knew what he was doing.
Ted's favorite saying became: "Early to bed, early to rise, work like crazy, and advertise!"
A New Adventure Begins
One day in 1970, Ted saw something that changed everything. He was driving through Atlanta when he noticed a small TV station for sale. It wasn't doing very well, but Ted had an idea.
"What if we could use TV the same way we use billboards?" he wondered. "To reach even more people!"
"Sometimes the best opportunities look like problems to everyone else," Ted told his team.
The TV station was called Channel 17, and it needed a lot of work. Many people told Ted not to buy it. They said he should stick to billboards. But Ted remembered what his father taught him about being brave.
Taking Big Risks
Ted used all the money he had saved to buy the TV station. It was scary, but exciting too! He renamed it WTCG and started showing old movies and Atlanta Braves baseball games.
Fun Fact: Ted loved baseball so much that he later bought the whole Atlanta Braves team! ⚾
Some days were hard. Sometimes the TV equipment wouldn't work right, or shows wouldn't play correctly. But Ted never gave up. He kept working and learning and trying new things.
"We're going to make this the best TV station in Georgia," he would tell his workers. And slowly but surely, they did!
Ted's office now had two maps on the wall. One showed all his billboards, and one showed where his TV signal reached. Every day, he would look at those maps and dream about making them bigger.
The sun was setting over Atlanta, and Ted stood at his office window. He watched the city lights come on, one by one. Just like those lights, his ideas were starting to shine brighter and brighter. But even Ted didn't know just how bright they would become.The Television Dream
The old TV station sat on a hill in Atlanta. Its red and white tower reached up into the sky like a giant metal tree. Ted Turner walked through the dusty halls of Channel 17.
Big Change: This was Ted's first TV station, and it needed lots of help to work better!
Starting Fresh
"What do we show first?" asked Bill, one of the TV workers.
Ted smiled. "Let's give people something fun to watch! Old movies, cartoons, and lots of sports!"
The machines were old, and sometimes the picture would get fuzzy. But Ted and his team worked hard every day to make things better.
"We're going to make TV that people want to watch all day long," Ted told his team.
Learning New Things
Ted had to learn a lot about TV very quickly. He learned about:
• Cameras• Antennas• Shows• Commercials• Broadcasting
Sometimes things went wrong. Once, during a baseball game, all the lights went out! But Ted didn't give up. He just laughed and said, "Well, tomorrow will be better!"
Ted's new motto became: "If something can go wrong, fix it fast!"
Making TV Better
Ted had a big idea. He wanted his TV station to reach more than just Atlanta. He looked at a map and pointed to different cities.
"What if we could send our shows to all these places?" he asked his team.
"People everywhere want good TV to watch," Ted said. "Let's give it to them!"
He bought new machines that could send TV shows through something called a satellite. It was like throwing a ball really high into space, and having it bounce back down to other TVs!
Growing Bigger
The TV station started doing better. More people were watching Channel 17. Ted renamed it WTBS, and it became known as the "Superstation."
Cool Fact: WTBS was the first TV station to send its shows all across America through satellites!
Ted's office was now full of TV screens. He would watch them all, making sure everything looked good. Sometimes he would stay at work until very late at night.
New Ideas Coming
One evening, Ted was watching the news on his TV. It was only on for 30 minutes. He thought, "Why does the news have to stop? Important things happen all day long!"
He grabbed his notebook and started writing. A new idea was growing in his mind, bigger than anything he had tried before.
"What if," he said to himself, "we had a TV channel that showed news all day and all night?"
Ted looked out his window at the big TV tower. The red light on top blinked like a star. He smiled, knowing that soon, that blinking light would be part of something much, much bigger.Making News History
The year was 1979, and Ted Turner sat in a bright meeting room in Atlanta. His blue eyes sparkled with excitement as he shared his big idea.
A Big Dream
"News should never sleep!" Ted told his team. "We're going to make a TV channel that shows news all day and all night."
Amazing Idea: This would be the first channel ever to show news 24 hours a day!
Many people laughed at Ted's idea. They said things like:
"That will never work!"
"There isn't enough news to fill 24 hours!"
"Nobody wants to watch news all day!"
Building the Team
Ted didn't listen to the doubters. He started looking for brave people who believed in his dream. He needed:
• News reporters• Camera operators• Writers• Weather experts• Technical workers
Reese Schonfeld became Ted's helper in charge. Together, they found hundreds of people who wanted to be part of this new idea.
"We're not just making a TV channel," Ted said. "We're making history!"
Getting Ready
Ted found a big building in Atlanta to be the home of his new channel. He called it CNN - Cable News Network.
CNN would need lots of special equipment to send news around the world!
Workers installed:
- Bright lights ⭐
- Big cameras
- Computer screens
- News desks
- Satellite dishes
Money Matters
Starting CNN cost a lot of money. Ted had to be brave and smart with his money. He sold some things he owned and asked banks to help.
"This is worth every penny," Ted said. "People need to know what's happening in the world, any time of day."
Almost Ready
As the launch day got closer, everyone worked extra hard. They practiced how to tell news stories and tested all the equipment.
"What if something goes wrong?" asked a nervous reporter.
Ted smiled and said, "Things will go wrong. But we'll fix them and keep going. That's what news is all about!"
Fun Fact: Ted picked June 1, 1980, as the day CNN would start. That was less than a month away! ⏰
Every night, Ted would walk through the CNN building. He could already imagine the buzz of reporters sharing news from around the world.
The world was about to change, and Ted Turner was ready to lead that change. His dream of 24-hour news was about to become real.The World Watches
The big day arrived! On June 1, 1980, Ted Turner stood proudly in the CNN control room. His heart was beating fast with excitement.
The Big Start
"5...4...3...2...1..." The room was quiet. Then Ted's voice boomed through the speakers:
"We won't be signing off until the world ends. We'll be on, and we will cover it live!" ️
Special Moment: CNN became the first TV channel to show news 24 hours a day!
Growing Bigger
At first, only a few people watched CNN. But Ted knew good things take time. He kept making the channel better.
Some big things CNN showed first:
• The space shuttle taking off
• Important world meetings
• Big sports games...
[Content restricted to members only]