Editing Turner Broadcasting System (section)

=== 1980s ===
On June 1, 1980, [[CNN|Cable News Network]] (CNN) was launched at 5:00&nbsp;p.m. [[Eastern Time|EDT]] becoming the first 24-hour [[television news|news]] [[cable television|cable channel]]. The husband and wife team of [[David Walker (journalist)|Dave Walker]] and [[Lois Hart]] [[news presenter|news anchored]] the first newscast. [[Burt Reinhardt]], then executive [[vice president]] of CNN, hired most of the channel's first 200 employees and 25-member staff including [[Bernard Shaw (journalist)|Bernard Shaw]], the network's first [[news anchor]].

In 1981, Turner Broadcasting System acquired [[Brut Productions]] from [[Fabergé (cosmetics)|Faberge Inc.]]<ref>{{cite news|title=Faberge Sells Brut's Assets|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/01/business/faberge-sells-brut-s-assets.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 1, 1982|access-date=September 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701092705/http://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/01/business/faberge-sells-brut-s-assets.html|archive-date=July 1, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

Also in 1981, WTBS began its usage of "Turner Time" in June 1981, in which programming began at five minutes after the top and bottom of each hour, instead of the broadcasting norm of beginning at the top and bottom of the hour.

In 1984, Turner initiated [[Cable Music Channel]], his competition for [[Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment Company|WASEC]]'s [[MTV]]. The channel was short-lived, but helped influence the original format of [[VH1]].

In 1986, after a failed attempt to acquire [[CBS]], Turner purchased the film studio [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]]/[[United Artists|UA]] Entertainment Co. from [[Kirk Kerkorian]] for $1.5 billion.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=TIME |date=1987-02-02 |title=DEALS: Hanging In There - Barely |url=https://time.com/archive/6708261/deals-hanging-in-there-barely/ |access-date=2025-02-27 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref> Following the acquisition, Turner had an enormous debt and sold parts of the acquisition. MGM/UA Entertainment was sold back to Kirk Kerkorian.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fabrikant |first=Geraldine |date=1986-06-07 |title=TURNER TO SELL MGM ASSETS |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/07/business/turner-to-sell-mgm-assets.html |access-date=2025-02-27 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The [[Sony Pictures Studios|MGM/UA Studio lot]] in [[Culver City]] was sold to [[Lorimar-Telepictures]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Delugach |first=Al |date=1986-09-09 |title=Lorimar Signs Pact to Acquire MGM Studio |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-09-09-fi-12601-story.html |access-date=2025-02-27 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> Turner kept MGM's pre-May 1986 film and television library as well as the [[Associated Artists Productions]] library (the pre-1950<ref name="ymrt">''You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story,'' (2008) p. 255.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/mediahistory&tab=collection?and%5B%5D=subject%3A%22Motion%20pictures%20--%20Catalogues%22|title=Media History Digital Library|access-date=September 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325121444/https://archive.org/details/mediahistory%26tab%3Dcollection?and%5B%5D=subject%3A%22Motion%20pictures%20--%20Catalogues%22|archive-date=March 25, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Warner Bros.]] film library and the [[Fleischer Studios]]/[[Famous Studios]] ''[[Popeye the Sailor (film series)|Popeye]]'' cartoons originally released by [[Paramount Pictures]]), and the U.S./Canadian distribution rights to the [[RKO Pictures]] library. [[Turner Entertainment Co.]] was founded on August 2, 1986.

Turner Program Services ("TPS"), a subsidiary under the Turner umbrella, began domestic syndication of all of the properties acquired under the final disposition of the MGM deal with Kerkorian. TPS inherited over 5,000 program orders (executed, letters of intent) to have domestic syndication agreements prepared and sent in order to "formally" contractually license films for airing on domestic, free-over-the-air television stations throughout the United States. The contractual "back-log" was caught up by the end of 1989, while still administering to all of a domestic television station's syndication needs. In 1987, top-rated television network [[NBC]] was considered bidding for a piece of the company in an effort to enter the cable business, but the deal was never materialized.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mitchell |first=Kim |date=1987-11-25 |title=NBC Discussing Plan To Acquire Interest In TBS |pages=92, 98 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref>

In 1989, TBS Management Company, under the leadership of Charles Shultz (Ted's first company controller at the original, small TV station), advanced the focus on the two music performing rights subsidiaries: one with Broadcast Music, Inc ("BMI") and ASCAP. In the space of 1989 to 1994, Turner went from 2 subsidiary music publishing companies to no less than sixteen.

On October 3, 1988, the company launched [[TNT (American TV network)|Turner Network Television]] (TNT).<ref>{{cite news|title=NEW TNT CHANNEL BEGINS MONDAY ON CABLE SYSTEMS|url=https://buffalonews.com/news/new-tnt-channel-begins-monday-on-cable-systems/article_5622e6a8-270b-50ca-8a8d-21d73e258e98.html|work=The Buffalo News|last=Brennan|first=James E.|date=October 2, 1988|access-date=September 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928060159/http://buffalonews.com/1988/10/02/new-tnt-channel-begins-monday-on-cable-systems/|archive-date=September 28, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>