Ted Turner, Rupert Murdoch Feud Explained: A 40-Year War That Almost Ended In A Fist Fight

The feud between Ted Turner and Rupert Murdoch, two of the most combative figures in television news, began in the 1980s and played out from Australia's Sydney to Hobart yacht race to the American cable wars, with one reported flashpoint ending in Turner proposing a fist fight in Las Vegas. It is the sort of rivalry that sounds too theatrical to be true, which is precisely why it has endured.

The clash was never only about personality, though there was plenty of that. Turner had launched CNN in 1980 and Murdoch would later enter the same arena with Fox News in 1996, turning a personal dislike into a genuine struggle over who got to define televised news for millions of viewers.

Ted Turner, Rupert Murdoch And A Yacht Race That Went Too Far

One of the earliest breaks in the relationship came during the 1983 Sydney to Hobart race, when a boat sponsored by Murdoch ran one of Turner's aground. At a dinner afterwards, Turner reportedly, and drunkenly, challenged Murdoch to a fist fight and suggested it could be broadcast from Las Vegas. Even by the standards of rich men behaving badly, it was a ridiculous image. It also set the tone for what followed.

It shows the feud was never confined to boardrooms or studios. Turner and Murdoch were not merely competing executives with different business plans. They seemed to irritate each other on a more elemental level, with Turner apparently ready to turn professional rivalry into physical theatre.

Some of the most colourful details in this history are reported anecdotes rather than newly confirmed facts, and that deserves to be said plainly. The Las Vegas fight never happened, and where the record rests on reported accounts rather than direct evidence.

When Ted Turner, Rupert Murdoch Turned Cable News Into Personal War

The stakes became much higher in 1996 when Murdoch launched Fox News as an alternative to CNN, which he regarded as a liberal outlet. Turner, at that point, was promoting the merger of Turner Broadcasting System with Time Warner, and the newly formed company did not carry Fox News on its New York City network.

Turner's response was not exactly diplomatic. He said the merger would 'squash Rupert Murdoch like a bug.'

Cable news was expanding, political identity was hardening and both men had built empires in their own image. Turner's swagger could be entertaining, but it was also revealing. He did not see Murdoch as just another rival. He saw him as a threat to be crushed.

For years, CNN stayed ahead. Then the market moved. Fox News first overtook CNN in the ratings in early 2002 and pushed further ahead during the US invasion of Iraq. A Guardian report cited in the source said that by March 2003 Fox News was averaging up to 5.6 million viewers during evening prime time, while CNN was bringing in 4.4 million.

Turner did not hide his contempt for Murdoch's editorial line during the Iraq war. 'He's a warmonger. He promoted it,' Turner said, referring to Murdoch and Fox News' pro-war stance during George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq.

When Fox's ratings rose, Turner answered with a mixture of bruised pride and defiance, saying, 'Just because your ratings are bigger doesn't mean you're better. It's not how big you are, it's how good you are that really counts.'

Ted Turner, Rupert Murdoch And The Language Of Contempt

As the rivalry deepened, Turner's language grew harsher and, at times, extraordinary. He called Murdoch a 'mega-maniac,' said there was not 'a spark of human decency in him,' and even compared him to Adolf Hitler. In one remark, Turner said, 'Chamberlain tried to make peace,' invoking Neville Chamberlain's failed efforts to avoid war with Hitler in 1938.

That comparison was inflammatory, and it says as much about Turner's appetite for provocation as it does about Murdoch. He was not arguing in the careful, bloodless way corporate leaders usually do when billions are at stake. He was throwing verbal punches with the same force he once seemed willing to test in person.

Yet the strange thing about long feuds is that they rarely end with the drama they promise. After decades of insults, market battles and mutual suspicion, Turner said in 2019 that he and Murdoch had quashed their feud. For a story that once seemed to be heading towards a televised brawl, that quiet claim may be the least flashy detail in it, and the one hardest to ignore.