‘A Great American and Friend’

Rupert Murdoch and Ted Turner were business rivals — and their Fox News and CNN news networks remain fierce competitors.

But Murdoch and Turner were also friends. In a statement following news about Turner’s death, Murdoch gave credit to Turner for having the vision to launch CNN in 1980.

“Ted Turner’s vision for 24-hour cable news transformed the media industry and gave viewers everywhere a front seat to witness history unfold,” Murdoch said in a statement. “His impact as a trailblazer has left an indelible mark on our cultural landscape. He was a great American and friend.”

Murdoch, 95, currently serves as chairman emeritus of Fox Corp. He led the October 1996 launch of Fox News, patterned as a conservative alternative to CNN, which came just a few months after the debut of MSNBC on cable.

Other media moguls also commended Turner for his lasting impact on the TV business.

“Ted was a visionary, a trailblazer, and a foundational force behind many of the brands that are central to Warner Bros. Discovery today,” WBD CEO David Zaslav wrote in a memo to employees. “He believed deeply in the power of ideas, in doing things differently and in building platforms that could inform, inspire and connect people around the world. That belief inspired generations of leaders, myself included. He did not just disrupt media. He transformed it.”

Brian Roberts, chairman and co-CEO of Comcast, said in a statement: “Ted changed the lives of so many people around the world. I feel so fortunate to have been on his board of directors early in my career and to have learned so much from him. He was a true pioneer and an extraordinary philanthropist and his impact is profound and lasting.”

CNN CEO Mark Thompson, in an interview with anchor Dana Bash that aired on the network Wednesday, said Turner was “incredibly visionary” and “a unique figure.”

“We have lost one of our giants… I said to my colleagues today, he’s the giant on whose shoulders we stand today,” said Thompson, who took on the role as CNN’s top exec in October 2023. “I mention Ted every time I talk to my colleagues, pretty much every single time. You will know this. I’m constantly evoking Ted, because I think that is the spirit that media needs now, particularly legacy media, given the enormous number of challenges we have and the fundamental changes in the way audiences want news.”

Thompson said that Turner’s great insight “is that the public, not just in America, but around the world, they want news when they want it and when they need it, which is not a part of… a network scheduler’s convenient agenda. It’s when the news happens or when they want to catch up.”

And Mark Lazarus, CEO of Versant Media — parent of MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) — said about the late cable pioneer, “Ted Turner was one of the rare leaders who truly changed the trajectory of an industry. Having worked with him, I saw firsthand his willingness to take risks and his belief that media could be something bigger and more impactful. He pushed all of us to think beyond what was comfortable. His legacy is not just in what he built, but in how he inspired others to build. The industry will be served well if we can all ‘find our inner Ted.’ He will be remembered for generations.”