US TV
The man who founded CNN, Ted Turner, will say tonight on CBS' 60 Minutes II that he can't buy back the network from AOL Time Warner due to the collapse of the company's share price.
Turner, CBS says, tells journalist Mike Wallace tonight that he lost "seven or eight billion" when AOL Time Warner stock plunged from its highs in the midst of the dotcom boom. At that time, the marriage between AOL and Time Warner seemed to make perfect sense - but the company, once the darling of Wall Street, now has the appearance of a lumbering behemoth unable to withstand competition, particularly in its AOL division.
CNN has been a sore point for Turner ever since he sold it to Time Warner along with the rest of his flagship Turner Broadcasting System in 1996 for around $7.6bn - a move he later went on record as saying was "the biggest mistake I ever made." The fortunes of CNN in the ratings in recent years have also taken a tumble, as the network - without Turner at the helm - has seen its number one position in cable news usurped by the opinion-led Fox News Channel.
Hopes - and they seemed to be widespread hopes, judging from the reaction in the US press to Turner's resignation as AOL Time Warner's Vice Chairman - that CNN would be taken back by Turner, now seem to be totally faded.
Turner, CBS says, tells journalist Mike Wallace tonight that he lost "seven or eight billion" when AOL Time Warner stock plunged from its highs in the midst of the dotcom boom. At that time, the marriage between AOL and Time Warner seemed to make perfect sense - but the company, once the darling of Wall Street, now has the appearance of a lumbering behemoth unable to withstand competition, particularly in its AOL division.
CNN has been a sore point for Turner ever since he sold it to Time Warner along with the rest of his flagship Turner Broadcasting System in 1996 for around $7.6bn - a move he later went on record as saying was "the biggest mistake I ever made." The fortunes of CNN in the ratings in recent years have also taken a tumble, as the network - without Turner at the helm - has seen its number one position in cable news usurped by the opinion-led Fox News Channel.
Hopes - and they seemed to be widespread hopes, judging from the reaction in the US press to Turner's resignation as AOL Time Warner's Vice Chairman - that CNN would be taken back by Turner, now seem to be totally faded.
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