Warner Bros. Discovery opened its upfront on Wednesday with a tribute to Ted Turner, the CNN founder and media pioneer who died last week.
After a clip of Turner’s speech at the launch of CNN in 1980, Anderson Cooper took the stage and told the audience that he was “a bold visionary with an unrivaled work ethic.”
“He believed in the value of people’s access to information, and he built a company that has impacted not only everyone in this room, but anyone who has ever watched television,” Cooper said. “The legacy that he built continues to inspire this industry every day, and it will for years to come. So before we start today’s presentation. I just wanted to leave you with this famous Ted saying, which feels appropriate for today: “Early to bed, early to rise. Work like hell, and advertise.”
Later, Cooper reappeared on stage for CNN’s portion of the upfront presentation, joined by Kaitlan Collins and Abby Phillip. Among the announcements was the launch this week of a CNN Weather app, plans for a standalone vertical product focused on wellness and the international rollout of its All Access subscription service later this year. Collins also noted a revamped CNN Business and expansion of live events.
Craig Ferguson also appeared on stage, to preview the CNN Originals slate That included his new series Craig Ferguson: American on Purpose, premiering on May 30. Among other things, he riffed on Cooper’s hair versus his own hair. “My hair, it’s Kennedy hair. You know what I’m saying? It’s think. It’s rich, but that’s what it is. But Anderson’s hair, that’s Vanderbilt hair…That hair conditions itself as he is moving around. As you are watching him in war zones his hair is still conditioned.”
