83 Weeks - Ted Turner [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Let’s get into our topic today Eric…and this has been of our most requested topics for 83 Weeks… Ted Turner!

Eric - when you hear that name - what is your immediate reaction?

Ted’s journey in business is like no other is it Eric?

He would begin in his family business of Turner Advertising and after his father’s suicide in March of 1963 - he would turn the firm into a global enterprise. As the business would expand in the Southeast he would begin buying several Southern radio stations. The story of Ted Turner is quite amazing and if you ever had a chance - and mind you this book came out in 1993 so there’s a lot that’s happened since - It Ain’t As Easy as It Looks…

I would recommend you pick up that book. Eric - when you look back - Ted had to be one of your heroes when you’re a young entrepreneur right?

Before long - he would begin building an empire of television stations and gathering up rights to the Atlanta Braves & Atlanta Hawks before purchasing the teams. Ted really started the modern media rights companies that we see today essentially didn’t he?

We know the rest of the story…CNN…24 hour news…changed the world. But we’re really here to discuss what was a small purchase on the grand scale of things in his world - 1988 - Turner would purchase Jim Crockett Promotions and turning it into World Championship Wrestling. Eric - you were in Minnesota when all this happened - what did you think of this when you heard it?

We long have known that Vince McMahon wasn’t exactly excited about Ted Turner owning a professional wrestling company - do you know what Verne Gagne was thinking?

Looking back - Turner buying WCW for $9 million at the time - he was paying for content at the end of the day was he not?

Dave Meltzer would write this about Ted a few years ago when talking about his candidacy for the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame: “Turner spent little time in his life thinking about wrestling and never worked directly in wrestling. Yet, in the U.S. wrestling business over the last 50 years, very few have really been more important.”

Is that a good way to sum up Ted Turner?

It’s been said that Ted was for the deal to purchase WCW and most of the Turner brass were not. This was a common theme during your time in WCW wasn’t it?

From the Observer

“There were times between 1989 and 1994 when the Turner executives would note the wrestling losses and want to close down the company. At one such meeting, where basically everyone of the key execs underneath were I agreement to shut down the wrestling company due to losses, Turner, at a meeting pointed out that wrestling has been a key part of TBS, had built the station, that it was a cyclical business and to never bring up closing down the company again.”

How often did you hear that during your run was an announcer in WCW and before you rose in the company?

Did you ever meet Ted Turner when you were - as you’ve called it - a C level announcer?

When Bill Watts made his comments about Hank Aaron to the Pro Wrestling Torch…that was not something Ted would ever tolerate was it?

Did Ted ever walk through the WCW offices and talk with the WCW workers?

When you make your ascent in WCW - are you put into a room with Ted? What is your first meeting with him in your new role do you remember?

Jim Barnett is often talked about someone who had a close relationship to Ted Turner. Was it as close as Barnett made it out to seem do you think?

We often hear about how when TNA signed Hulk Hogan - Bob Carter - Dixie’s father - would brag about how Hulk Hogan worked for him. Do you think Ted felt that way when the deal to bring Hulk to WCW was made?

Was that something you had to talk to Ted about? Sit down with and discuss why and how - or was that passed up the food chain to Ted?

How many things do you know of that had to be signed off by Ted?

Chat me up about how often you would discuss things with Ted?

Guy Evans’ first book - the Incredible Rise and Inevitable Collapse of Ted Turner’s WCW…do you consider it Ted Turner’s WCW?

May 1995…from the Guy Evans book…

Randy Booth reported that an offer had been made to purchase World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Inc. - the Turner-controlled pro wrestling outfit and notoriously inept money-loser. Since its official inception some seven years earlier, WCW had never so much as made a single dollar in profit, and to many, its continued survival was as perplexing as its creation.

“We have received an offer for W-C-” The cumulative history of TBS wrestling set the stage for Booth’s announcement. He could barely finish delivering the news before Scott Sassa leapt to his feet, high-fiving Terry McGuirk in a display of pure elation. Sassa enjoyed a particularly close rapport with Ted, but he seemed to be acting on behalf of everyone now. This is it, the group agreed with their eyes. We can finally be done with wrestling. A communal sense of relief filled the room, tempered just slightly by a cautious optimism. When push came to shove, their billionaire boss would still have the final say. Ted’s eyes narrowed. His instincts, well honed after a lifetime of making decisions based on feel, urged him to embrace his spontaneous nature.

Ted leaned forward as the Sassa-McGuirk high-five reverberated around him. “You’ve now got wrestling,” he told Sassa matter-of-factly.

“You’ve now got wrestling,” Turner clarified to Sassa. “On TNT. In prime time.” The suits paused in disbelief. Such a proposal, it was widely believed, completely contradicted TNT’s efforts to position itself, especially in an increasingly crowded cable marketplace.

Eric - the story has long been - Ted sat in a meeting with you - asked what you needed to do compete with the WWF - and you answered prime time and that’s how it happened. Do you think this is a combination story?

You wrote in Controversy Creates Cash that Ted valued content over dollars and knew the long term play was content were long-term dollars. Man did he hit the nail on the head back then didn’t he?

You wrote this after the meeting about Nitro being green lit…

“The impression I have of Ted Turner is that he’s a genius in a lot of ways, and he’s extremely competitive. He believed in WCW. And I think we had gained enough momentum that we were beginning to validate his beliefs. So when he started thinking about what it would take to get to the next level, going head-to-head with Vince was an obvious next step. I think he said to himself, We’ve built this product; we’re ready to compete. Let’s compete. I think it was really that simple.”

You’re not wrong at the end of the day…what did that gift of prime time on TNT mean to you?

How many other face to face meetings with Ted did you have after this?

At the same time WCW is handed Nitro on prime time on TNT - the beginning of the Time Warner - Turner talks began. Did you have any idea what that would mean for you, the company or do you think even Ted did at the time?

Somehow you were a part of a big company - swallowed up by a bigger company - which effectively tied everyone’s hands - is that accurate?

As WCW took on the WWF and would start beating them some weeks - the WWF would react with Billionaire Ted. Eric - what did you think of these skits?

Do you know if Ted ever saw any of them?

Do you think he felt some sort of way about them?

You would write that during the 83 week streak - you’d hear from Ted once a month congratulating you on how things were going - was that the only times you’d hear from Ted?

Did you hear anything from anyone about after the merger went through about Ted and how his role or power or anything like that had changed?

Do you think he watched WCW - at all?

It was Ted who greenlit Thunder on TBS is that right?

Did you get a chance to have a conversation with him about this step and what it would actually mean?

Was the thought process - well we launched Nitro - lets just launch another prime time show?

Did you hear from anyone at Turner about the end of the 83 week streak? Do you think Ted cared about the hiccup?

What changed about Turner after Time Warner…and why do you think you were beginning to look on from the outside when things and processes changed?

Did you feel like you & Ted were not that far off from each other in how you went about your business?

You wrote that the Atlanta Thrashers becoming a part of Time Warner was really a low note for a lot of the staff - why was that?

The NBC deal in 1999 - if Ted had been in charge - is there any doubt in your mind the deal happens?

Do you think Ted was aware of the phantom bookkeeping that you have said helped kill WCW as well?

When did your communication with Ted end?

Do you think Ted was aware when you were originally sent home from WCW?

Had you spoken to him in a while at that point?

You wrote in your book that he was a personal reference for you in securing a deal with one of the biggest names in NASCAR - do you think Ted looked at you as someone he could trust with anything you were presented?

Do you think if Ted was aware of things - he’d be a fan of the fact that wrestling was back on TNT - even with Tony Khan’s statements on Ted?

What is your fondest memory of Ted?

Funniest moment?

Ever hear him yell or dress someone down?

Did you look at Ted as a mentor?

What’s one of the biggest character traits of Ted that you emulated?

What was he like as a leader?

Do you think Vince McMahon enjoyed pointing his barbs at Ted instead of you - and do you think those two could’ve ever sat down and just shot the shit? Worked a deal? Or had a real conversation?

Do you remember when Vince took an ad out regarding the Time Warner - Turner merger about how Ted was trying to take down the WWF? Do you think Ted at that point was saying - why the fuck am I in this business?

What do you know of his current illness and have you kept in touch with him or his family over the years?