Good evening, I'm Ben Mankiewicz. Welcome to Turner Classic Movies. Before this network went on the air on April 14th, 1994, executives bandied about different ideas for what to call the channel. This process went on for months. Those execs planned focus groups to brainstorm suggestions. But then one day, they received a memo reading as follows: The name of the new channel will be called Turner Classic Movies. The memo was signed RE. Those initials stand for Robert Edward Turner III, known to everybody as Ted Turner. Like everything in his expansive media empire, Ted Turner called the shots. But there was no tension about the name. Everybody agreed his name needed to be represented because the channel was the spawn of his foresight. Ted Turner died Wednesday at the age of 87. Tonight, we salute this larger-than-life figure. The man who transformed television from 24-hour cable news to sports superstations to, most significantly for us, saving, preserving, and showcasing classic movies. In December of 2018, Ted Turner returned to TCM's home in Atlanta, where I had the privilege of sitting down with him for a conversation about the considerable impact of his career. Getting that man to take a bow for starting CNN and TCM was not easy. A few months later, we honored Ted at the 10th TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood with a video tribute that also celebrated TCM's 25th anniversary. We have that salute to Ted Turner for you now, which includes my conversation with our Maverick founder, even though he refused to use that word about himself. I'm thinking real Mavericks don't call themselves Mavericks. Following the tribute, we'll present one of Ted's favorite films. It's also the first movie to ever air on TCM, Gone with the Wind. But first, let's take a look at the legacy-making career of Robert Edward Turner.
Thanks for doing this. This is an honor to sit here with you. So, thank you.
The word that gets tossed around a lot with you is maverick.
I don't know why. I don't really feel like I was a maverick.
No, I just thought a lot. I was smart enough to think a lot and think things through very carefully. I knew 24-hour news was going to work and I knew 24-hour classic movies was going to work.
When you say you knew, your gut told you, right? Well, that makes you different, don't you think?
A little bit. Not too much.
When you had channel 17, the other local station, independent station, went out of business. So all of a sudden, you could buy all these old movies and there was no competition for the movies, right? So you could get them pretty cheap because nobody really wanted these movies. Nobody was valuing these movies.
It was like Looney Tunes cartoons. Nobody was valuing Bugs Bunny. Ho ho ho. I was. All the movies in the library are 25 years older. But they're more popular than ever.
Because people like old stuff. People do like old stuff. I'm old now and people like me.
They liked you before. What's the smartest business decision you've ever made?
To do CNN and Turner Classic Movies.
In a celebrated life projected large in the public eye, he's been cast as visionary, philanthropist, environmental activist, and unparalleled provocateur.
The best advice is never to do anything. You'll never get in trouble if you don't do anything. But on the other hand, you'll never get anywhere either.
But of all the roles embraced by Robert Edward Ted Turner III, perhaps his most profound cultural impact has been made as champion of classic film.
He saw something in me nobody else ever did.
Ted Turner had the vision. He's the only one that knew outside of the movie buffs like us. He's the only one that knew the value of these great movies and the need to preserve them.
Previously, classic movies were only screened in small revival theaters or broadcast in altered form. But with the advent of Turner Classic Movies, these enduring works finally had a home. Every film, including original trailers and rare archival material, was presented with unprecedented care and curation to an appreciative and often influential audience.
Turner Classic Movies is an oasis on the cable channels.
I have to just go on the record and say I love TCM.
