Turner Broadcasting Sales, Inc history

In 1979 the network was renamed the Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) and went on a growth binge.

In June 1980, however, Turner created the Cable News Network (CNN) subsidiary to broadcast live news on a 24-hour basis.

1980: Turner launches Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour cable new channel.

1982: Turner launches CNN2, which would later become Headline News, then HLN.

In addition, Satellite News Channels (SNC) opened direct competition in 1982, as a second 24-hour cable news headline service, promising financial incentives to combat the loyalty of CNN’s cable operators and viewers.

He helped found the Better World Society in 1985, a nonprofit organization that produced documentaries on ecological and environmental issues.

1985: CNN International launches.

Levin, a well-known industry guru that had masterminded the deal between Time Inc. and Warner Communication Inc. in 1989 and launched HBO on cable networks across the nation, believed that moving onto the Internet was imperative for his company's future growth.

Late in 1991, TBS purchased Hanna-Barbera Productions for $320 million.

1991: CNN is the network to watch as Persian Gulf War begins.

AMC held that position for 10 years, until in 1994 TNT launched TCM. The race for viewers was then on.

AMC responded to pressures from TCM with aggressive advertising and consumer marketing campaigns that began in 1994.

He says he is interested in new business alliances. It also created Turner Classic Movies in 1994.

To help achieve this goal, the network in 1995 introduced its "31 Days of Oscar" marketing campaign, which every year ran during March, the month of the Academy Awards.

Katz, Richard. "TCM Demonstrates Turner's Muscle." Multichannel News, April 17, 1995.

Then, in 1995, he began talks with Time Warner Inc.

In 1995, to promote its commercial-free programming, TCM launched the marketing campaign "31 Days of Oscar." As part of the campaign TNT ran a special program titled Inside the Academy Awards.

By 1995 AMC counted 54 million subscribers, compared to 4.3 million for TCM, but the new network was positioning itself to take over the classic movie brand.

In a move that quieted most of his critics, at least about the extent of his philanthropy, Turner in 1997 announced that over the next decade he would donate $1 billion—about one-third of his estimated personal wealth—to the United Nations.

Starting in the fall of 1997 Cartoon Network Japan went on the air, putting characters like Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd on Japanese television screens.

In 1997 the Japanese units of Turner Broadcasting and Time Warner teamed up with Japan's Itochu Corp. to launch the first 24-hour cartoon channel in Japan.

In early 1998 Turner Broadcasting announced plans for a significant expansion of its facilities in Atlanta, its home base.

In just the first four months of 1998, Turner spent more than $45 billion to outbid the networks to the television rights to such films as Austin Powers, Wag the Dog, Lost in Space, and As Good as It Gets.

According to the Journal and Constitution, Turner's TNT cable station nearly doubled its production of original movies in 1998 to 17.

Indeed, by 1999 Time Warner was looking for a deal that would ease its foray onto the Internet scene.

TCM's "31 Days of Oscar" campaign became an annual marketing event for the network, with a budget by 1999 that was reported to be "several million dollars," according to Multichannel News.

2000: Time Warner merges with AOL. The Boomerang channel -- a spin-off from Cartoon Network -- is launched.

2001: Adult Swim -- an adult block of programming on Cartoon Network -- debuts.

Cox, Ted. "A Rockumentary Built on Sand: AMC Tries to Give '70s Music Movies Their Due, but It Can't Be Bothered with Anything of Substance." Arlington Heights (IL) Daily Herald, August 30, 2002.

2002: Fox News surpasses CNN in ratings.

To promote Biography further and to celebrate the program's 15th anniversary, A&E launched a 10—city tour in 2002 that included stops in Los Angeles, Denver, and Chicago.

In 2002, for the eighth year, TCM used the "31 Days of Oscar" campaign as a marketing strategy to promote its library of Academy-winning or -nominated films and to attract viewers.

In March 2003, Philip Kent took over as chairman and CEO and launched a restructuring effort that organized TBS into three business segments--entertainment, news, and animation.

Sellers, Patricia, "Ted Turner Is a Worried Man," Fortune, May 26, 2003.

Faced with ratings problems, the network had earlier begun to revamp its programming, and by November 2003 A&E reported that its efforts to turn the numbers around were working.

TNT, TBS, and Cartoon Network continued to hold top spots in the industry, while Turner Classic Movies secured its 66 millionth subscriber in 2003, and CNN/United States achieved its highest audience levels in over a decade that year.

Umstead, R. Thomas. "The Parent Trap: Kids Programming Is Getting a Lift from a Silent Minority of the Viewership Base, and Advertisers Are Taking Note." Multichannel News, May 17, 2004.

These changes were the impetus behind the move by TBS in 2004 to establish its own identity in order to create a niche, find an audience, and rebuild sagging viewership.

In the first quarter of 2004 the Disney Channel, with a target audience of children under the age of 17, reported an average prime-time audience of 406,000 adults between 18 and 49, indicating that parents were spending time watching television with their kids.

These ads, introduced during the 2004 national elections, appeared on 50 political blogs with the theme "Vote Carrie," highlighting the character played by Sarah Jessica Parker.

In 2004, as part of its prime-time programming, Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) entered into an eight-year agreement with Home Box Office (HBO) to buy and show in reruns the pay channel's hit series Sex and the City.

It received a 2005 Gold EFFIE, as well as a Silver CLIO for the spots "Name," "Wings," and "Strange Fruit."

2006: Ted Turner resigns from Time Warner board.