CBS's Poison Pill and Defensive Buyback

By the early 1980s, Ted Turner had built CNN from scratch, taken his Superstation nationwide, and outlasted the networks’ counterattacks. But there was still one thing he didn’t have — a broadcast network.

In this episode, we follow Ted Turner’s audacious bid to buy CBS and how his network dream became possible in a new Wall Street era fueled by Reaganomics, deregulation, junk bonds, and corporate raiders.

From secret meetings with CBS executives to the rise of the Yuppies, this episode’s got it all — connecting the dots between media, money, and power, and showing how Ted Turner’s takeover attempt helped shape not just television, but modern media itself.

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Credits

Writing, research, and production by Web Barr.

Artwork by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dylan Lathrop⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Podcast Consultant⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (https://thepodcastconsultant.com).

Chapters

• (00:00): Bonfire of the Networks
• (11:15): Fourth Network Dreams
• (20:00): Reagan’s Eighties
• (39:00): Cable’s Rise
• (49:00): Ted’s Sports Network
• (54:00): Ted’s MTV Competitor
• (1:12:00): Cable’s Limitations
• (1:24:00): Networks in 1984
• (1:37:00): ABC + Cap Cities
• (1:52:00): Ted Prepares His CBS Bid
• (2:24:00): Ted Announces CBS Bid
• (2:49:00): War
• (3:15:00): Onto the Next Deal

Sources

Books used in Episode 8. Get em here!

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠It Ain't As Easy As It Looks: Ted Turner's Amazing Story⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Up All Night: Ted Turner, CNN, and the Birth of 24-Hour News⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ted Turner Speaks: Insights From the World's Greatest Maverick⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ⁠⁠CNN: The Inside Story: How a Band of Mavericks Changed the Face of Television News⁠⁠
• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Confessions of an Advertising Man⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lead Follow or Get Out of the Way: The Story of Ted Turner⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Media Man: Ted Turner's Improbable Empire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 
• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Clash of the Titans: How the Unbridled Ambition of Ted Turner and Rupert Murdoch Has Created Global Empires that Control What We Read & Watch Each Day⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Call Me Ted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Cable Cowboy: John Malone and the rise of the modern cable-TV business⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Me and Ted Against the World: The Unauthorized Story of the Founding of CNN⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ⁠⁠⁠⁠Tinderbox: HBO's Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ⁠⁠⁠⁠Masters of Enterprise: Giants of American Business from John Jacob Astor and J.P. Morgan to Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey⁠⁠
• ⁠Roone: A Memoir⁠
• Triumph of the Yuppies
• Three Blind Mice

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