Word: network
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...though he could hardly believe the audacity of what he was about to propose. Facing a bright battery of TV lights at a Manhattan press conference, the self-made cable king announced last week that he will try to take over CBS, the country's top-rated TV network. Following more than a month of rumors, Turner had finally raised the curtain on what could become one of the most dramatic takeover dramas...
...bonds and other securities worth $5.4 billion in exchange for all 31 million CBS common shares. The deal could take more than a year to complete, even if it comes offsmoothly, which is unlikely. Despite Turner's reputation for accomplishing the near impossible with such ventures as Cable News Network and SuperStation WTBS, the proposal represents an almost incredible reach. Wall Street financiers are skeptical that Turner Broadcasting, which had 1984 revenues of $282 million, has the muscle to endure a long fight with the giant media conglomerate (revenues: $4.9 billion). Yet some industry experts had predicted that Turner would...
...would-be raider. Before a crowd of 300 shareholders and 80 reporters, Wyman lashed out at Fairness in Media, a North Carolina-based conservative group and potential Turner ally that wants to see CBS taken over in order to end what it sees as a liberal bias in the network's news division. Declared Wyman: "Those who seek to gain control of CBS in order to gain control of CBS News threaten its independence, its integrity--and this country...
While Turner backed away last week from any formal ties with the group, he pledged "to improve the quality, objectivity and diversity of CBS programming." In the past, Turner has criticized network fare in general for its "sleaze, stupidity and violence." His flagship station, WTBS, currently offers sports broadcasts and family-oriented material, including reruns of The Beverly Hillbillies, a show that CBS dropped...
...gambling nearly everything he was making from WTBS, Turner launched the 24-hour Cable News Network, a brazen challenge to the three major TV-news organizations. During the first few years, CNN lost about $50 million annually and seemed unlikely to survive. Turner persevered, though, and today CNN is nearly in the black. He has aimed to join forces with CBS since 1981, when he approached the network about taking over Turner Broadcasting. Rejected then and several times since, Turner finally decided to try to take over...