
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
On Sunday, June 1st, 1980, Ted Turner pressed a button—and CNN went live, beaming 24/7 news into homes across America and changing the media landscape forever, while shrinking time and space forever.
In this episode, we sent Julia Thompson to track down and interview people who were at CNN’s Atlanta headquarters on day one. What follows is the story of a visionary who dared to build a 24-hour news network on a tight budget—in a world dominated by 30-minute broadcasts and networks spending over $100 million a year on their news.
With his own money and a vow to stay on the air “until the world ends,” Ted Turner took on the giants. It’s a modern-day David and Goliath tale—driven by technology, entertainment, risk, and pure tenacity. This is how CNN was born.
This episode features interviews with:
Listen to Hi Barr's newest podcast, Media Moguls with Web Barr on your favorite podcast app now.
'You Had To Be There' is a Hi Barr production.
Created by Hi Barr.
'CNN Launches the 24/7 News Cycle' was written and hosted by Julia Thompson.
Produced by Julia Thompson and Web Barr.
Edited by Julia Thompson.
Edit, Sound Mix, and engineering by Vishal Nayak.
Original score by Teeny Lieberson.
Artwork created by Dylan Lathrop.
Special thanks to our parents, friends and chosen family. And most importantly, thank you to the artists who’ve inspired us because they had to do it.
Sign up to receive our newsletter.
Follow us on Instagram and YouTube.
For business inquiries, please email: [email protected].
Were you at one of the events covered on the show? If so, we'd love to talk! Please get in touch via email and/or social media channels like Instagram or X.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
4.2
172172 ratings
On Sunday, June 1st, 1980, Ted Turner pressed a button—and CNN went live, beaming 24/7 news into homes across America and changing the media landscape forever, while shrinking time and space forever.
In this episode, we sent Julia Thompson to track down and interview people who were at CNN’s Atlanta headquarters on day one. What follows is the story of a visionary who dared to build a 24-hour news network on a tight budget—in a world dominated by 30-minute broadcasts and networks spending over $100 million a year on their news.
With his own money and a vow to stay on the air “until the world ends,” Ted Turner took on the giants. It’s a modern-day David and Goliath tale—driven by technology, entertainment, risk, and pure tenacity. This is how CNN was born.
This episode features interviews with:
Listen to Hi Barr's newest podcast, Media Moguls with Web Barr on your favorite podcast app now.
'You Had To Be There' is a Hi Barr production.
Created by Hi Barr.
'CNN Launches the 24/7 News Cycle' was written and hosted by Julia Thompson.
Produced by Julia Thompson and Web Barr.
Edited by Julia Thompson.
Edit, Sound Mix, and engineering by Vishal Nayak.
Original score by Teeny Lieberson.
Artwork created by Dylan Lathrop.
Special thanks to our parents, friends and chosen family. And most importantly, thank you to the artists who’ve inspired us because they had to do it.
Sign up to receive our newsletter.
Follow us on Instagram and YouTube.
For business inquiries, please email: [email protected].
Were you at one of the events covered on the show? If so, we'd love to talk! Please get in touch via email and/or social media channels like Instagram or X.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
38,652 Listeners
44,057 Listeners
90,382 Listeners
38,049 Listeners
27,294 Listeners
11,000 Listeners
37,409 Listeners
86,893 Listeners
111,150 Listeners
14,162 Listeners
16,138 Listeners
5,356 Listeners
57,734 Listeners
10,539 Listeners
1,184 Listeners