Ted Turner, media mogul who revolutionised TV news by launching CNN, dies at 87

Media mogul Ted Turner, who pioneered the modern 24-hour news culture when he launched the CNN channel, has died at the age of 87, the network has announced.

In 1980, Turner launched Cable News Network as the first dedicated rolling news channel, which soon became a central part of the media landscape.

US President Donald Trump paid tribute to him as "one of the greats of broadcast history, and a friend of mine".

Current CNN CEO and chairman Mark Thompson described Turner as "the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and we will all take a moment today to recognise him and his impact on our lives and the world".

In a statement, Thompson said: "Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgement.

"He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN."

President Trump has been a fierce critic of the current CNN, but said of Turner: "Whenever I needed him, he was there, always willing to fight for a good cause!"

CNN initially faced scepticism and struggles - being mocked as the "Chicken Noodle Network" in its early years by those who thought it would not succeed.

But the channel proved its worth by providing speedy and continuous updates of stories like the assassination attempt on US President Ronald Reagan in 1981, and the Challenger space shuttle disaster in 1986.

The network truly came of age with its live rolling coverage from Iraq during the 1990-1991 Gulf War.

President George Bush once said he learned more from CNN than he did from the CIA.

CNN's success led other news channels to follow, such as Fox News, launched in 1996 by Turner's long-time rival Rupert Murdoch.

But CNN was far from Turner's only outlet. He began his career by taking over the successful family billboard company when his father took his own life, then bought a radio station in Atlanta, Georgia.

Within a decade, that station had become the foundation of the Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) and its boss was one of the biggest media moguls in the US.

He was also known for his brash personality, which earned him the nicknames "the Mouth of the South" and "Captain Outrageous".

His television empire also included the TBS and TNT channels, Turner Classic Movies and Cartoon Network.

He made a short-lived, ill-fated $1.5bn (£1.1bn) acquisition of the MGM film studios in 1985. He went on to buy film and TV companies Castle Rock Entertainment and New Line Cinema in the 1990s, before his company merged with Time Warner.

Beyond the media, Turner was a world-class yachtsman, winning the America's Cup in 1977.In 1983, a Murdoch-sponsored yacht collided with Turner's boat in an Australian race, which led Turner to challenge Murdoch to a fist fight.

Turner also owned sport properties includingthe Atlanta Braves baseball team, Atlanta Hawks basketball team and Atlanta Thrashers ice hockey team.

He also became a major philanthropist, donating $1bn to the United Nations and millions more to environmental causes, and promoted and invested in clean energy.

He was married to actress Jane Fonda from 1991 until 2001.

In 2018, Turner revealed he had Lewy body dementia, a degenerative nerve disease.