The Stories Behind Media’s Biggest Moguls
Behind every media empire is a story of ambition, power, and relentless vision.
Hosted by longtime media operator Web Barr, Media Moguls tells the in-depth stories of the visionaries, entrepreneurs, and innovators who built and shaped the media industry—starting with Ted Turner.
Each season, we’ll explore a different mogul—their wins, losses, and lasting impact—while breaking down the game-changing innovations, paradigm-shifting strategies, and pivotal moments that shaped television, Hollywood, sports, and news over the last century. Along the way, we’ll tell the story of how we got to now.
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The Stories Behind Media’s Biggest Moguls
Behind every media empire is a story of ambition, power, and relentless vision.
Hosted by longtime media operator Web Barr, Media Moguls tells the in-depth stories of the visionaries, entrepreneurs, and innovators who built and shaped the media industry—starting with Ted Turner.
Each season, we’ll explore a different mogul—their wins, losses, and lasting impact—while breaking down the game-changing innovations, paradigm-shifting strategies, and pivotal moments that shaped television, Hollywood, sports, and news over the last century. Along the way, we’ll tell the story of how we got to now.
By the early 1980s, Ted Turner had built CNN from scratch, taken his Superstation nationwide, and outlasted the networks’ counterattacks. But there was still one thing he didn’t have — a broadcast network.
In this episode, we follow Ted Turner’s audacious bid to buy CBS and how his network dream became possible in a new Wall Street era fueled by Reaganomics, deregulation, junk bonds, and corporate raiders.
From secret meetings with CBS executives to the rise of the Yuppies, this episode’s got it all — connecting the dots between media, money, and power, and showing how Ted Turner’s takeover attempt helped shape not just television, but modern media itself.
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Credits
Writing, research, and production by Web Barr.
Artwork by Dylan Lathrop.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com).
Chapters
(00:00): Bonfire of the Networks
(11:15): Fourth Network Dreams
(20:00): Reagan’s Eighties
(39:00): Cable’s Rise
(49:00): Ted’s Sports Network
(54:00): Ted’s MTV Competitor
(1:12:00): Cable’s Limitations
(1:24:00): Networks in 1984
(1:37:00): ABC + Cap Cities
(1:52:00): Ted Prepares His CBS Bid
(2:24:00): Ted Announces CBS Bid
(2:49:00): War
(3:15:00): Onto the Next Deal
Sources
Books used in Episode 8. Get em here!
It Ain't As Easy As It Looks: Ted Turner's Amazing Story
Up All Night: Ted Turner, CNN, and the Birth of 24-Hour News
Ted Turner Speaks: Insights From the World's Greatest Maverick
CNN: The Inside Story: How a Band of Mavericks Changed the Face of Television News
Confessions of an Advertising Man
Lead Follow or Get Out of the Way: The Story of Ted Turner
Media Man: Ted Turner's Improbable Empire
Clash of the Titans: How the Unbridled Ambition of Ted Turner and Rupert Murdoch Has Created Global Empires that Control What We Read & Watch Each Day
Call Me Ted
Cable Cowboy: John Malone and the rise of the modern cable-TV business
Me and Ted Against the World: The Unauthorized Story of the Founding of CNN
Tinderbox: HBO's Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers
Masters of Enterprise: Giants of American Business from John Jacob Astor and J.P. Morgan to Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey
Roone: A Memoir
Triumph of the Yuppies
Three Blind Mice
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Media Moguls with Web Barr
The Stories Behind Media’s Biggest Moguls
Behind every media empire is a story of ambition, power, and relentless vision.
Hosted by longtime media operator Web Barr, Media Moguls tells the in-depth stories of the visionaries, entrepreneurs, and innovators who built and shaped the media industry—starting with Ted Turner.
Each season, we’ll explore a different mogul—their wins, losses, and lasting impact—while breaking down the game-changing innovations, paradigm-shifting strategies, and pivotal moments that shaped television, Hollywood, sports, and news over the last century. Along the way, we’ll tell the story of how we got to now.
