the company . for the channel owned by this company see tbs u.s. tv channel . this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . february 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message turner broadcasting system inc. turner broadcasting system logo since 2 november 2015 aerial view of the cnn center which houses the headquarters of turner broadcasting system type division industry entertainment cable television mass media interactive media predecessor turner communications group founded 1970 ; 46 years ago 1970 founder ted turner headquarters cnn center atlanta georgia u.s. key people john k. martin ceo & chairman 1 david levy president 2 products cnn cnn international hln tnt turner classic movies cartoon network boomerang adult swim trutv tbs cnn airport parent time warner divisions turner sports subsidiaries turner broadcasting system europe turner broadcasting system asia pacific turner broadcasting system latin america turner entertainment co. cartoon network studios turner private networks hulu 10 % williams street website see tfm www.turner.com turner broadcasting system inc. often abbreviated turner broadcasting tbs inc. or simply turner is an american media conglomerate and division of time warner managing the collection of cable networks and properties initiated or acquired by robert edward ted turner iii starting during the 1970s . tbs inc. merged with time warner on october 10 1996 and now operates as a semi autonomous unit of time warner . the company s current assets include cnn hln tbs tnt cartoon network adult swim boomerang trutv and turner classic movies . the current chairman and ceo of turner broadcasting is john k. martin . 3 the turner properties are located in both the cnn center in downtown atlanta 4 and the turner broadcasting campus off techwood drive in midtown atlanta which also houses turner studios . 5 across interstate 75 85 from the techwood campus is the original home of turner s wtbs superstation now separated into the tbs cable network and peachtree tv which today houses adult swim and williams street productions . contents 1 history 1.1 1970s 1.2 1980s 1.3 1990s 1.4 2000s 1.5 2010s 2 channels 2.1 u.s. domestic 2.2 international 2.3 other regions 3 former assets 4 references 5 external links history edit 1970s edit in 1970 ted turner then owner of a successful atlanta based outdoor advertising company purchased wjrj atlanta channel 17 a small struggling ultra high frequency station and renamed it wtcg for parent company turner communications group . by careful programming acquisitions turner guided the station to success . during december 1976 wtcg originated the superstation concept transmitting via satellite to cable systems and it was originally owned by warner communications until warner formed a joint venture with american express called warner amex satellite entertainment in 1975 . on december 17 1976 at 1 00pm wtcg channel 17 s signal was beamed via satellite to its four cable systems in grand island nebraska ; newport news virginia ; troy alabama ; and newton kansas . all four cable systems started receiving the 1948 dana andrews cesar romero film deep waters already in progress . the movie had started 30 minutes earlier . wtcg went from being a little television station to a major tv network that every one of the 24 000 households outside of the 675 000 in atlanta was receiving coast to coast . wtcg became a so called superstation and created a precedent of today s basic cable television . hbo had gone to satellite transmissions to distribute its signal nationally in 1975 but that was a service cable subscribers were made to pay extra to receive . ted turner s innovation signaled the start of the basic cable revolution . in 1979 the company changed its name to turner broadcasting system inc. tbs inc. and the call letters of its main entertainment channel to wtbs . 1980s edit on june 1 1980 cnn was launched at 17 00 est becoming the first 24 hour news cable channel . the husband and wife team of dave walker and lois hart news anchored the first newscast burt reinhardt the then executive vice president of cnn hired most of cnn s first 200 employees & 25 member staff including bernard shaw the network s first news anchor . in 1981 turner broadcasting system acquired brut productions from faberge inc. 6 in 1984 turner initiated cable music channel his competition for 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 mgm ua entertainment co. from kirk kerkorian for 1.5 billion . following the acquisition turner had an enormous debt and sold parts of the acquisition . mgm ua entertainment was sold back to kirk kerkorian . the mgm ua studio lot in culver city was sold to lorimar telepictures . turner kept mgm s pre may 1986 and pre merger film and tv library which included nearly all of mgm s material made before the merger and a small portion of united artists film and tv properties which included few ua pictures the tv series gilligan s island as well as its animated spin offs the u.s. and canadian distribution rights to the rko radio pictures library and the pre 1950 7 8 9 warner bros. library and the fleischer studios famous studios popeye cartoons that both were once the property of associated artists productions which merged with united artists television in 1958 . turner entertainment co. is founded on august 4 1986 . on october 3 1988 the company launched turner network television tnt . 1990s edit turner expanded its presence in movie production and distribution first with the 1991 purchase of the hanna barbera animation studio . 10 on december 22 1993 turner acquired castle rock entertainment . turner purchased new line cinema a month later . 11 12 13 turner launched cartoon network on october 1 1992 followed by turner classic movies tcm on april 14 1994 . on october 10 1996 turner merged with time warner . 2000s edit in 2003 philip i. kent succeeded jamie kellner as chairman . operational duties for the wb were transferred by time warner from warner bros. to turner broadcasting during 2001 while kellner was chairman but were returned to warner bros. in 2003 with the departure of kellner . on february 23 2006 the company agreed to sell the regional entertainment channel turner south to fox entertainment group . fox assumed control of the channel on may 1 and on october 13 relaunched it as sportsouth coincidentally the former name of fox sports south when turner owned this channel in partnership with liberty media between 1990 and 1996 . in may 2006 time warner which had owned 50 % of court tv since 1998 purchased the remaining 50 % from liberty media and began running the channel as part of turner broadcasting . the channel was relaunched as trutv on january 1 2008 . also in may 2006 ted turner attended his last meeting as a board member of time warner and officially parted with the company . on october 5 2007 turner broadcasting system completed the acquisition of claxson interactive pay television networks in latin america . 14 unreliable source 2010s edit on august 26 2010 turner broadcasting took full control of chilevisi n a tv channel owned by chile s president sebasti n pi era . 15 on september 8 2011 turner broadcasting system acquired lazytown entertainment the producer of the tv series lazytown . 16 on january 1 2014 john k. martin succeeded phil kent as chairman and ceo of turner broadcasting . 17 on august 26 2014 it was reported that turner broadcasting was preparing to fire 550 people before an nba rights deal . 18 it was further reported in october 2014 that the company planned to reduce its workforce by 10 % 1 475 people through layoffs across a wide set of units including corporate positions . 19 on august 14 2015 it was announced that turner broadcasting had acquired a majority stake in istreamplanet a las vegas based video streaming services company in an effort to bolster its over the top programming and shift its core technology infrastructure to the cloud . istreamplanet is a direct competitor of major league baseball advanced media . the deal was reported to be in the neighborhood of 200 million . 20 former turner turner broadcasting system logo from 1970 to 2 november 2015 channels edit u.s. domestic edit news cnn hd and sd hln hd and sd cnn airport movies & entertainment tbs hd and sd tnt hd and sd trutv hd and sd turner classic movies hd and sd terrestrial broadcasting wpch tv also known as peachtree tv ; operated by meredith corporation under a local marketing agreement animation young adults & kids media cartoon network hd and sd boomerang adult swim hd and sd interactive broadband sites adultswim.com cartoonnetwork.com cnn.com hlntv.com tbs.com tcm.com tntdrama.com trutv.com teamcoco.com veryfunnyads.com bleacherreport.com nba.com pga.com ncaa.com march madness live sports nba tv hd and sd owned by the national basketball association while turning broadcasting operates the network international edit latin america the channels in latin america are controlled by turner broadcasting system latin america headquartered in atlanta . it broadcasts latin american versions of u.s. channels and also channels that are exclusive for the region . tbs la also handles advertising sales for warner channel owned by fellow time warner division warner bros. entertainment and for the brazilian action sports channel woohoo . chilevisi n free to air chile news and information cnn en espa ol cnn en espa ol pan regional cnn en espa ol m xico cnn chile cnn indonesia co owned by trans media cnn international channel sd latin america asia europe africa channel hd asia middle east and north africa cnn philippines co owned with nine media corporation and radio philippines network through a brand licensing agreement cnn t rk co owned with do an media group cnn hd usa hln international channel sd asia middle east and north africa indian cnn news18 ibn 7 cnn international south asia toonami india ibn lokmat news 18 assam news 18 tamil boing india news nation assam boomerang india cartoon network india pogo tv hbo india wb india tv asia tv 18 kids and teens boomerang boomerang latin america boomerang m xico boomerang brasil boomerang india boomerang australia boomerang germany boomerang nederland audio option dutch boomerang middle east & africa boomerang central southeast europe and russia audio option in english romanian hungarian bulgarian and russian boomerang france hd and sd boomerang italy boomerang nordic boomerang uk & ireland hd and sd boomerang southeast asia multiaudio option boomerang turkey cartoon network latin america hd and sd cartoon network latin america 1 cartoon network chile cartoon classic india cartoon network argentina cartoon network m xico cartoon network brasil cartoon network poland hd and sd cartoon network hungary cartoon network nordic sweden norway danmark and finland cartoon network italia cartoon network nederland cartoon network t rkiye cartoon network pakistan cartoon network france hd and sd cartoon network canada cartoon network australia cartoon network india cartoon network uk & ireland hd and sd cartoon network japan cartoon network taiwan cartoon network russia and southeast europe cartoon network middle east & africa cartoon network arabic hd and sd cartoon network deutschland cartoon network korea cartoon network southeast asia cartoon network philippines tooncast latin america tooncast pan regional tooncast brasil cartoonito uk & ireland toonami channel asia toonami channel france pogo india lifestyle glitz latin america glitz pan regional tnt glitz germany previously glitz trutv latin america also in high definition trutv pan regional trutv brasil trutv southeast asia tabi channel japan mondo tv japan music htv latin america muchmusic latin america imagine showbiz india movies & entertainment tnt also in high definition tnt