Preparing to Buy a Network

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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