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In 1969, Steve Ross pulled off one of the most unlikely deals in entertainment history, transforming a New York conglomerate of funeral homes, parking lots, and cleaning services into becoming the owner of Warner Bros.
In Part 1, we’ll explore how a Brooklynite with no experience in entertainment acquired one of Hollywood’s greatest studios and built an entertainment empire alongside legendary creative executives like Ahmet Ertegun, Mo Ostin, David Geffen, Jac Holzman, and Ted Ashley.
Along the way, Steve Ross developed 4 core philosophies or strategies for WCI: (1) give creative executives incredible autonomy, (2) pay them so much money they’ll never leave, (3) control your distribution, and (4) growth comes from taking risks.
The result was Warner Communications, an entertainment empire unlike any other, then or now.
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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
Sources
Master of the Game: How Steve Ross rode the light fantastic from undertaker to creator of the largest media conglomerate Time Warner in the world - Connie Bruck
Exploding: The Highs, Hits, Hype, Heroes, and Hustlers of the Warner Music Group - Stan Cornyn
Sonic Boom: The Impossible Rise of Warner Bros. Records, from Hendrix to Fleetwood Mac to Madonna to Prince - Peter Ames Carlin
Becoming Elektra: The True Story of Jac Holzman's Visionary Record Label - Mick Houghton & Jac Holzman
The Last Sultan: The Life and Times of Ahmet Ertegun - Robert Greenfield
Off the Record: An Oral History of Popular Music - Joe Smith
The Operator: David Geffen Builds, Buys, and Sells the New Hollywood - Tom King
Tetragrammaton - with Bob Pittman
The History of the Eagles
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Today, Ted Turner passed away at the age of 87.
In this special episode of Media Moguls, I reflect on the life, legacy, and incredible impact of one of the most important media figures in history.
From transforming a struggling Atlanta UHF TV station into the national Superstation TBS via the satellite… to launching CNN and creating the 24/7 news cycle… to revolutionizing sports broadcasting through his Atlanta Braves, Ted Turner repeatedly saw the future before anyone else and capitalized on it.
I've also revisted some of my favorite Ted Turner quotes and stories to better explain just who Ted was.
Ted Turner wasn’t just a media mogul. He was a force of nature.
Rest easy, Ted.
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After 10 episodes, nearly 30 hours of audio, and three years of work, the final chapter of Media Moguls: The Ted Turner Saga is here.
In the 1990s, the media world went big, and Ted Turner knew he had to keep up. Despite building CNN into a global force and launching TNT, Cartoon Network, and more, Turner Broadcasting was still too small for a rapidly consolidating industry.
After failed attempts to buy or merge with ABC, NBC, and CBS, Ted made the biggest move of his career: selling to Time Warner.
It worked… until it didn’t.
This episode breaks down the deals, the strategy, and the moment when the ultimate media outsider chose to join the establishment, and what it cost him.
From there, we follow what happened next, how it looked like a success, and how it slowly unraveled.
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For business inquiries, please email: [email protected]
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
Sources
Books used in Episode 11. Get em here!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In the wake of his MGM gamble and cable bailout, Ted Turner was not just fighting to survive. He was building.
As CNN cemented its global authority covering the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the Gulf War in Iraq, Turner used MGM’s massive film library as fuel for expansion. Out of that library came TNT, Cartoon Network, Turner Classic Movies, and more, transforming Turner Broadcasting into a cable powerhouse.
But bold moves brought controversy, including the battles over film colorization and growing tension with his own partners. This episode is about survival, reinvention, and how Ted turned crisis into a media empire.
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Email us: [email protected]
Listen to Hi Barr’s You Had To Be There podcast!
For business inquiries, please email: [email protected]
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
Sources
Books used in Episode 10. Get em here!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In 1985, fresh off his failed bid for CBS, Ted Turner faced his own Rubicon moment. He could double down on a bigger, more cash-heavy hostile network takeover, or walk away and chase something even bigger and riskier. When billionaire dealmaker Kirk Kerkorian offered him MGM in a lightning-fast, all-cash deal, Ted pivoted to Hollywood, betting everything on the hidden value of film libraries and the future of cable. What followed was one of the riskiest acquisitions in media history, fueled by junk bonds, ambition, and instinct, and it would reshape Turner Broadcasting while nearly destroying it.
More From Hi Barr
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Email us: [email protected]
Listen to Hi Barr’s You Had To Be There podcast!
For business inquiries, please email: [email protected]
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
Sources
Books used in Episode 9. Get em here!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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.
More From Hi Barr
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Email us: [email protected]
Listen to Hi Barr’s You Had To Be There podcast!
For business inquiries, please email: [email protected]
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
Sources
Books used in Episode 8. Get em here!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The cameras are rolling, the clock is ticking, and Ted Turner has bet everything he owns on CNN. This episode takes you inside CNN’s first hour, first day, first year, and first decade, from the first broadcast to the first ad, the first breaking news moment, and the first competitors.
We cover the battles that shaped CNN’s early years: lawsuits against the Big 3 and the White House, Reagan’s shooting, major story triumphs and…failures, and the epic showdown with ABC-Westinghouse’s Satellite News Channel, all while CNN fought for relevance and survival. Come along for the ride!
More From Hi Barr
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Email us: [email protected]
Listen to Hi Barr’s You Had To Be There podcast!
For business inquiries, please email: [email protected]
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
Sources
Books used in Episode 7. Get em here!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This episode tells the story of how Ted Turner built and launched CNN, the world’s first 24-hour news network, in just 11 months. At a time when network news aired only 30 minutes a night, Turner saw a bigger opportunity. With news veteran Reese Schonfeld, he set out to build a nonstop news operation from Atlanta, using cable and satellites to take on the media establishment.
We'll explore how CNN went from a wild idea from a guy known for hating news to a professional operation running on a bare bones budget, despite industry doubts and early setbacks. You’ll hear how Ted pitched CNN, why incumbents like The Washington Post and Time Inc. passed, and how their scrappy team pulled it off. It was risky and chaotic, everything that could go wrong did, but in the end, they changed the world forever.
More From Hi Barr
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Email us: [email protected]
Listen to Hi Barr’s You Had To Be There podcast!
For business inquiries, please email: [email protected]
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
Sources
Books used in Episode 6. Get em here!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This episode follows the rise of the Superstation, the backlash it triggered, and the battles that helped shape the future of television.
Ted Turner takes WTCG Channel 17 from a scrappy Atlanta station to a national disruptor, beaming it across the country as America’s first Superstation. With a mix of old movies, classic TV reruns, and Braves baseball, Turner reached millions of viewers from Kansas to Hawaii and cracked the networks’ stranglehold on television—without asking permission.
But building a national audience was just the beginning. Facing mounting pressure from Hollywood studios, sports leagues, syndicators, and the Big Three networks, Turner went to war—on Capitol Hill and in the court of public opinion. He positioned TBS not just as a TV station, but as a true alternative to the system itself. And as his rivals scrambled to shut him down, Turner made one thing clear: the toothpaste was already out of the tube.
More From Hi Barr
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Email us: [email protected]
Listen to Hi Barr’s You Had To Be There podcast!
For business inquiries, please email: [email protected]
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
Sources
Books used in Episode 5. Get em here!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This episode explores the boldest gamble of Ted Turner's life to date — launching his scrappy Atlanta TV station, WTCG Channel 17, into orbit via satellite and transforming it into America’s first SUPERSTATION.
From Arthur C. Clarke’s 1945 prediction of satellite TV to Telstar I’s first live broadcast to HBO’s 1975 Thrilla in Manila transmission that took the tech to a new level, we land in the mid-1970s, when Turner saw what others missed: satellites weren’t just technology — they were a platform for a much bigger future.
With a $1 lease and a million earth station, Ted Turner took on the networks, the government, and the laws of gravity to beam his local TV station's signal to the entire nation.
More From Hi Barr
Follow us on X + Instagram + YouTube + Linkedin
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Email us: [email protected]
Listen to Hi Barr’s You Had To Be There podcast!
For business inquiries, please email: [email protected]
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
Sources
Books used in Episode 4. Get em here!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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