TBS President Ted Turner used an address before the National
Press Club as an opportunity to lash out at Time Warner, claiming
that they are using their position as a TBS stockholder to block
Turner from purchasing a network. Time Warner owns about 20% of
TBS stock.
ON TIME WARNER: "I had a basic deal worked out to acquire
NBC, a little over a year ago, for about $5B. ... And I went to
Time Warner with that, and they said no. ... When they told me
not to buy the Home Shopping Network, I said O.K. When they
wouldn't let me buy FNN years ago, before NBC ended up buying it,
I said O.K. ... They said the network business is a lousy
business. You don't want to be in the network business. But
now, they're trying to get a network." Later, Turner said: "I
haven't made any charges; I haven't filed any lawsuits; I
haven't filed any complaints with the FCC or the Justice
Department ... yet. And I hope I don't have to" (THE DAILY).
GE RESPONDS: In an interview with "Nightly Business
Report," GE Chair Jack Welch denied Turner's claim that he had a
deal to buy NBC: "I can't believe Ted Turner said that. Ted
Turner never had a deal to buy NBC" (PBS, 9/27).
ON TV RIGHTS: Turner used the World Cup TV rights as an
example of why he needs a network: "We carried the World Cup four
years ago [and] paid them a fair price. This time, when the
World Cup came up, we were the incumbents, but ABC and ESPN came
in, and ESPN said we'll put a number of the games on our network
that reaches everybody. And the soccer people said, 'look Ted,
it's not even a question of dollars; we need that exposure'" (THE
DAILY).
ON THE '96 GAMES: Turner: "I helped get the Olympics in
1996 because CNN is from there [Atlanta]. I couldn't even bid
for the Olympics, not allowed to be a bidder. NBC, ABC, CBS,
yes. ... And the local people in Atlanta want to know why I'm not
enthusiastic about the Olympics. I don't even have a smidgen.
I'm able to buy tickets in the 50th row back. I'm tired of it"
(THE DAILY).
ON BASEBALL: Turner on baseball's anti-trust exemption: "It
doesn't make any difference to me. We have more trouble than any
other sport, and we've got the exemption. ... I never thought it
meant diddly-squat." Turner added that the strike "could" break
the MLBPA: "It seriously can weaken it, let's say, but I mean,
the players union gambled that the owners would cave in rather
than lose the World Series, and they've used up most of their
leverage" (THE DAILY).
